


There Goes the Neighborhood

by StarvingLunatic



Series: Please Baby [2]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Black Characters, Black Family, Children, Drug Addiction, F/F, Family, Family Drama, Lesbian Character, Lesbian Character of Color, Novel, Same-Sex Marriage, Wordcount: 50.000-100.000, Wordcount: Over 50.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-02
Updated: 2014-10-18
Packaged: 2018-03-09 06:43:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 61,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3240104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarvingLunatic/pseuds/StarvingLunatic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lesbians. Sequel to Good Fences. Gus and Jayce are back with their kids. Their marriage seems to be going strong until people from the past start popping up in their lives, causing waves. Now, they have to worry about these people, their decisions involving those people, and how it might affect their family and their marriage.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Cake walk

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Welcome to another original story by this lunatic. The story and the characters are mine. Do not use them without my permission. Also, any and all characters, events, and situations found in these stories are fictional. If there are any similarities between these things and real people, events, and situations, it is purely a coincidence.
> 
> Come say hi to me on [Facebook](http://www.facebook.com/pages/SL-Kassidy/482097488469386).
> 
> Many thanks to my beta – Rleef.
> 
> This story is the sequel to Good fences and you might want to check that out to refresh your memory.

There Goes the Neighborhood

1: Cake walk

Jayce Tucker yawned as she awoke as usual before the alarm clock went off. The sun already peered through the vertical blinds, but not enough to bother her or her spouse, Gus Tucker. Gus needed to get up in a little while, though. Until then, Jayce reveled in watching her beloved sleep.

A small smile worked its way on Jayce’s face as she ran a finger down Gus’ toned, chocolate arm that was draped across her bare stomach. These were the arms of a strong person. A person who had saved her in more ways than one and had held her together to provide her with everything she needed and wanted. These were the arms that comforted her when things went wrong. But, most importantly, these were the arms that held her children, comforting them, playing with them, and protecting them from any harm that might come to them. Yes, these were the arms of a strong person. The person she loved.

Leaning forward, Jayce placed a soft kiss to Gus’ slightly parted lips. A soft whimper escaped Gus, causing Jayce to smile. Moving her arm, Gus pulled Jayce closer, pressing their nude bodies together. Gus purred and her finger drew little circles on Jayce’s skin.

“How long have you been awake?” Jayce teased, knowing the exact moment Gus woke up.

“You know when.” Gus’ voice was groggy from sleep, but Jayce loved the sound of it.

“You’re like my own personal Sleeping Beauty.”

Gus pretended to pout. “I thought I was the knight in shining armor around here.”

“Until night falls.”

Gus chuckled and pulled Jayce even closer. Jayce groaned, wishing things could go as far as she knew Gus wanted them, but they did not have time for that. Pulling away, Jayce placed another soft kiss to Gus’ mouth.

“You have to take a shower and I need to get breakfast started. So, it’s time to get up,” Jayce stated.

Gus groaned her complaint. “I do not like this plan.”

“Well, it’s Friday, so that has to be the plan. Maybe tomorrow things will change.”

“Promises, promises.”

Jayce smiled and kissed Gus once more before sliding from her grasp. She climbed out of bed and grabbed a t-shirt from the floor. Glancing around, she looked for her shorts, but only spotted Gus’ boxers. They would do.

“Come on, baby. Out of bed,” Jayce ordered, grabbing Gus’ foot.

Yanking her feet away, Gus grumbled, but did not say anything. Jayce smiled and blew her wife a kiss before leaving the room. Gus would get up when she was ready.

Before going downstairs to the kitchen, Jayce went to check on their children. Augustus Tucker, their two-year-old son, was laid out in his bed in a way very similar to how his sister and the woman he was named for slept. His dinosaur-covered blanket only covered one leg and his green pillow was on his chest. He usually fell asleep with a plush-toy dragon cuddled to his chest and it was on the floor, as it was every morning. She picked it up and placed it at the foot of his bed.

Glancing around the room, Jayce added cleaning up in there as part of her chore list. Gus-Gus was a little tornado in his room, much like his big sister was… everywhere. Jayce was used to it.

Easing out of the room, Jayce went to check on Octavia, their six-year-old daughter. Her room was pink, like the perfect little princess she was. Octie, as they all called her, loved pink and loved having a “princess” bed. Gus and Jayce thought this was funny because Octie was really a tomboy at heart. Octie was too young to label herself as such, though.

Octie spread out in her bed as if she had been nailed to an invisible cross. All of her pillows were off the bed. Jayce shook her head as she picked them up. Friends had promised her sleeping habits would improve was she got older, but it seemed to be slow going. It was still dangerous to share a bed with her. At least Gus was only dangerous when she was in the bed by herself.

Jayce did a quick check to see if she needed to pick up Octie’s room, but decided it was fine for now. By the time the weekend was over, she would more than likely have to clean up, though. Exiting the room, she quietly shut the door and went downstairs. Time to make breakfast for her dear family.

It felt like a pancake day. She knew pancakes would lift Gus’ and Octie’s spirits immediately. She usually saved pancakes for Mondays or Tuesdays to help get her ladies through the tough days, but they could be a Friday treat as well. Sort like a “job well done” for making it through the week and doing everything they needed to do. So, there would be pancakes, omelets, and toast.

Looking at the fruit bowl on the counter, an idea hit Jayce. “Maybe banana pancakes.” Her family loved specialized pancakes more than regular ones. The thought put a smile on her face. “My family.”

This was one of the most important things Gus could have and had given her – a family. She searched for one her entire life, first with her birth family and then with a very short list of lovers. One of those lovers actually included Gus’ little sister, Jannie, and it was through her that Jayce met Gus.

Their meeting had not been all niceness and rainbows. Gus helped Jayce lose her job while her relationship with Jannie was on the rocks. Jannie had already been upset with Jayce for taking in her niece, then known as Princess – but, now her daughter, Octavia – without talking it over with Jannie and then she hid the fact that she lost her job. Jannie had broken up with her, kicked her out of the house with the baby, and left her homeless. Gus had come to her rescue and she had slowly fallen for Gus as she lived in Gus’ home and fought her mother for custody of her niece. Gus had held her hand through Hell. How could she not fall for the woman?

Gus took care of her and she returned the favor as best she could. Their friends thought they were almost sickeningly sweet together. Jayce did not care what they thought. She just wanted Gus to know through her every action and more that she loved Gus and loved everything Gus did.

“She turned my bad luck into some wonderful dream,” Jayce said with a smile. Life was some wonderful dream and she hoped to never wake up. She began breakfast.

-8-8-8-8-

Gus finished showering and brushed her shoulder length hair.  _I need a haircut_. Of course, if she really needed one, she would take time to get one. She would wait for Jayce to say something about it before she got it cut. Jayce usually had a good sense for when her hair was too long.

She dressed in her typical business attire, donning a black suit with a powder blue shirt. Working for herself, she could dress much more casual, but she tried to go into work at least “business casual.” Most of the time, though, she wore a suit because she believed in being prepared. She never knew when someone might pop by that wanted to discuss her educational software and opening new doors for her. She also liked to set a good example for her employees. Besides, as long as she wore comfortable shoes, she was fine.

Once she was dressed, she went to wake up Octie. Smiling, she looked down at the girl, who drooled all over her pillow. Truthfully, she hated waking up the kids. They always looked like they were having the best sleep ever, so she felt like an asshole whenever she took them from that. But, Octie had school and she had been looking forward to today all week, so it was time for her to get up.

“Hey, wild child, time to get up,” Gus said, reaching down and caressing her daughter’s face.

Octie groaned, blindly swatting at Gus’ hand. “No, Papa. Tired…”

“You’re not tired. It’s Friday, kiddo.”

Octie was quiet for a second before she popped up. “It’s Friday! Papa, it’s Friday!” She grinned and leaped out of bed.

Gus chuckled as she watched Octie ran to her closet. The child searched the shelves and hangers for the perfect outfit. She seemed to forget that Jayce helped her pick out the “perfect outfit” last night.

“Uh… kiddo, I’m pretty sure this is the outfit Mommy laid out for you last night,” Gus said, pointing to the tea-party table in the corner. Octie’s clothes were draped over one of the little chairs.

“Oh, yeah.” Octie rushed over to the chair, grabbing her shirt and jeans. She practically ripped off her pajamas to get properly dressed. Pink being her color of choice lately, she slipped on her shirt, which was oddly a camouflage design, and her jeans were a light rose color. Her hair, which was already wavy and wild, was mussed more as her head got stuck in the hole that was for her sleeve.

Chuckling, Gus silently helped her daughter get into her shirt. Octie only grinned, obviously nothing going to bring her mood down. She was able to get into the jeans herself and then tugged on her hair.

“You gonna do my hair, Papa?” Octie requested.

“Well, I can’t let you go out like this. People might think you escaped from a circus,” Gus joked.

Octie snickered. “I escaped from a zoo.”

“Just don’t tell Mommy that,” Gus smiled. She went to Octie’s vanity and grabbed the comb and the brush. “Bows or barrettes?”

“Barrettes. But, pretty ones.”

“As if your Mommy would buy you ugly barrettes.”

Octie grinned. Gus sat down on the bed and Octie jumped up, putting herself in between Gus’ legs. Gus combed her unruly mane and parted her hair to put six twists into it, complete with pink and blue barrettes. Octie sat patiently through the whole thing, hands patting Gus’ legs.

“All done, Little Bit. Let’s see if Mommy finished breakfast.”

Octie was off like a shot. She tended to be turned all the way up as long as she was awake. Gus shook her head and returned the comb, brush, and left over barrettes to their place on the vanity before following Octie out of the room. While Octie charged downstairs with enough noise to make people think they had a dozen children and not just two, Gus checked in on her other namesake.

Gus-Gus was still asleep. Jayce typically woke him up right before they all sat down for breakfast. A smile settled on Gus’ face as she just stared at him for a few seconds. She could not help feeling pride just from looking at him.

“Sleep well, little emperor,” Gus whispered with a smile, tapping her fingers against the doorjamb.

Gus arrived downstairs just in time to see Octie releasing Jayce from a powerful hug. Jayce smiled and Gus went in for her own greeting, kissing her wife. Breakfast was already on the table, but Jayce was fixing their lunch bags.

“Don’t let Octie eat before I get Gus-Gus,” Jayce requested.

“I can’t make any promises. That looks like pancakes from here and you know how we are about our pancakes,” Gus replied with a grin.

Jayce shook her head. “Octie, make sure your Papa doesn’t eat the pancakes before I wake Gus-Gus up.”

Octie grinned and saluted. “I can do that, Mommy!”

“That’s why you’re my favorite little girl,” Jayce joked and hugged Octie once more.

“Favorite,” Octie boasted with another grin, pointing to herself with her thumb.

Gus laughed as she helped Octie into her usual chair at the table while Jayce went upstairs. Gus wondered who would crack first, her or their daughter with pancakes sitting right in front of them. It was just so tempting. Gus decided talking would probably keep them both from disappointing Jayce.

“You looking forward to today, kiddo?” Gus asked.

“Yup! Mommy made cupcakes and cookies for my class picnic and she’s gonna bring Gus-Gus to my class! Everybody can meet him.” Octie smiled broadly. She was always happy to show off her little brother. This pleased Gus as she was certain Octie would look out for him throughout their lives.

Gus smiled. “I hope he’s well behaved and he doesn’t embarrass you.” She would hate for Octie’s second week of second grade to be traumatic considering Gus-Gus’ favorite pastime involved figuring out how to get out of his clothing.

Octie actually scoffed. “He can’t embar… embar… embar…” Taking a breath and squinting, the child took a moment. “He can’t embarrass me. I love him no matter what, like you and Mommy always say.”

Gus grinned and knew she could not be prouder if she tried.  _Hopefully, the Little Bit will always feel like this about her brother_. She and Jayce had built a wonderful family and this was just what she always wanted.

-8-8-8-8-

Jayce went to get dressed before she woke up Gus-Gus. His little brow furrowed in his sleep, looking upset. Jayce wondered what had him making such a face. Leaning down, she caressed his face and found out that he was burning up. She gasped.

“Oh, no, little man. You’re on fire,” Jayce sighed.

Rushing to the en suite bathroom in her bedroom, she retrieved the thermometer and returned to their son. Pressing the thermometer to his forehead, she hoped he remained asleep until she got a reading. He would never sit still long enough for this to work if he woke up – 101.

“Not as bad as I thought, but still bad. I’m sorry, little emperor,” Jayce said, leaning down and kissing his warm forehead.

She decided to let him sleep for now. He might be able to sleep it off. She put a cool rag on his head with the hope that it would help. She exited the room, leaving the door open, so she could hear him if he got up. She returned to the dining room, surprised to find her spouse and their daughter had not devoured their pancakes yet. Gus locked eyes with her and arched an eyebrow since Jayce was alone.

“Where’s Gus-Gus?” Octie asked curiously, glancing behind Jayce.

“Gus-Gus is still asleep. He has a fever.” Jayce sighed as she poured herself a second cup of coffee

“Oh, no. Poor guy. You want me to make him an appointment with the doctor?” Gus asked.

“No, not yet. His fever isn’t that high. It’s a hundred and one. It might go down. I put a wet, cold washcloth on his forehead. It might help,” Jayce explained, joining her wife and daughter at the table.

Gus shook her head. “I don’t like it when he’s sick. He’s always so miserable.”

“Yeah, he takes after his papa,” Jayce teased, rubbing her spouse’s bicep. “He’ll be all right. If he’s not, I’ll call and get him to the doctor or take him to urgent care if necessary.”

“Well, if it comes to that, you make sure you call me.”

“Of course, I’ll call you. I’ll need someone to calm me down while I panic,” Jayce remarked.

“Wait, if Gus-Gus is sick, he can’t come to my class!” Octie realized with horror-filled, wide eyes. She turned her stricken expression to Jayce. “Can you still come to my class, Mommy? I told everybody you were coming and you were bringing the bestest treats.”

Jayce frowned. “I’m not sure if we’ll be able to make it if Gus-Gus’ fever doesn’t go down before the afternoon. I can’t take him out if he’s sick and I can’t leave him alone.” She dared not leave him with a babysitter on the best of days, so she definitely would not do it when he was sick.

“I’ll go,” Gus volunteered.

Octie suddenly beamed. “Will you, Papa? Will you?”

“Honey, you have work,” Jayce pointed out.

“Yeah, but my boss really likes me, so I think I might be able to get the afternoon off,” Gus remarked.

Jayce gave her wife a deadpan look. “You have a meeting.”

“I’ll move it,” Gus insisted.

Jayce decided not to pursue the conversation for the moment. They had a nice little breakfast with Gus and Octie practically inhaling their pancakes. Jayce shook her head while her two favorite females grinned at the end of the meal.

“All right, short stuff. Go wash your face and brush your teeth, so we can get going,” Gus ordered. Octie nodded and charged off.

Jayce began clearing the table. “You’ll move the meeting?”

“I can and will.”

“The same meeting that kept you from going to the picnic in the first place?” Jayce asked, casting Gus a look before placing their dishes in the sink.

Gus frowned. “Is there something underneath that? Like I’m working too much?”

Jayce held up her hands in surrender. “No, I’m not trying to pick a fight. I appreciate the work you do for us. I’m just saying you said this meeting was important and that’s why you couldn’t come to her class picnic. Now, you can just change it. What’s so different now?”

“Because I can miss some stuff if you’re going to be there. She’ll miss me, yeah, but she won’t be hurt and disappointed as long as you’re there. I want to make sure the business stays afloat and grows because I’m looking out for all of you, but I also want you all to be happy. I can’t stand the thought of her Friday being ruined, her picnic going bad after she waited all week for this. Plus, it’ll spoil her weekend. She’ll just sulk. I don’t want her to hurt or disappointed if it can be helped.”

Jayce nodded.  _This is why I love her so much_. “So, how are you going to get out of this meeting? You said it was very important.”

“And it is, but I’ll tell the guy that Gus-Gus is sick, which he is, and I need to check on him, which I will. After checking on him, I’ll go to the picnic and take your ‘bestest’ treats with me. None of it will be a lie, I’ll feel better knowing how he is, how you are, and knowing that Octie isn’t disappointed.”

“You’re wonderful, you know that?” Jayce said.

Gus smiled and puffed out her chest. “You make me that way. You’re wonderful, too.”

Moving away from the sink, Jayce went over to Gus and kissed her. Gus returned the kiss and held Jayce to her. When they pulled away, Gus smacked her lips together.

“Yum. You taste like syrup and coffee,” Gus remarked.

Jayce just laughed. Gus walked off, needing to brush her teeth. Jayce finished with their lunches just as Gus and Octie returned. She sent them off with lunch and kisses. They both picked up their bags at the door, Octie grabbed her hoodie in case it got chilly, and they called out farewells as they walked out into the warm, fading summer day. Jayce watched them drive off, missing Gus-Gus by her side, having to hold him back as he tried to chase after the SUV.

“I better go check on him,” Jayce sighed as she walked back into the house. She closed the door behind her.

-8-8-8-8-

Gus returned home early in the afternoon to find Jayce in Gus-Gus’ room, reading to him. He appeared asleep, but Jayce tended to read until she finished the book to make sure the kids were down for the count. Gus stood in the doorway for a moment, just listening to Jayce. Once she finished the last sentence, Jayce looked up and smiled.

“Hello there,” Jayce greeted her.

“Hey. How’s Caesar doing?” Gus inquired as she walked into the room. She wrapped Jayce into her arms and they sat by Gus-Gus’ bedside.

“The fever went away about an hour ago,” Jayce reported.

“That’s good. You called and said he had a cough, though. Do you want to take him to the doctor yet?”.

Jayce shook her head. “He wasn’t coughing anything up. It was just a little cough. I just want to give it the day. I don’t want to overreact again.”

Gus nodded. They had been lucky with Gus-Gus and he was not a very sickly child, unlike his sister had been when she was a baby. Gus-Gus had been sick less times than she could count on one hand. The first couple of times, Jayce made doctors appointments, eventually drove the sick child to the hospital, and argued with the doctors when told both times it was just a cold. Gus had wondered what Jayce had gone through with Octie the first year on her own to react like that, and when she finally asked, she really wished she had continued wondering. Jayce had nearly lost Octie no less than six times in that first year.

“I think he just has a cold. The window was open and he kicked all of his blankets off and there was a chill last night,” Jayce explained, but that was probably more to keep herself calm than let Gus know how their baby got sick.

“Are you okay?” Gus asked, giving her wife a little squeeze and pulled her close. Jayce curled into her.

“I am. I just hate it when they’re sick. I know he’s strong and he’ll make. I just… hate it,” Jayce whispered.

Gus kissed her forehead. “I know, lovely. I know. I’ll stay for a little while, okay?”

“No, no, no. You have to get to Octie’s thing. The picnic has already started. She’s probably already told everyone that her papa is coming with that big grin she gets whenever she talks about you. We’ll be fine for another couple of hours.”

Gus nodded. “I really don’t like leaving you alone with him. I should’ve come back after I had the meeting.”

Jayce chuckled. “You managed to get the meeting scheduled earlier, which was a feat in and of itself, and I’m sure you came back as soon as you could.”

“I could’ve gotten through it faster.”

Jayce smiled. “I love you so much.”

The declaration made Gus beam. “I love you, too.”

“Good. Now, go to our daughter’s picnic and stop berating yourself for not being Wonder Woman. You’ve done an amazing job, as always. Okay?” Jayce leaned in for a sweet kiss.

Gus smiled and nodded. They sat there quietly for a while, listening to Gus-Gus breathe. Jayce got up without a word and Gus followed her. Going to the kitchen, Jayce pushed two pans covered in foil toward Gus. Cookies and cake.

“You didn’t make any real food for this picnic?” Gus asked.

“No, another mom volunteered for that. You’ll get mobbed for this, I promise.”

Gus cocked an eyebrow. “You’ve baked cookies and cake for them before?”  _How is that possible? This is only the second week of school. And she thinks I’m trying to be Wonder Woman._

“You were off on that business trip.”

Gus frowned. “I missed the first one of these and you were going to let me miss another one?”

“Baby, stop. That one was her first grade one. You’re not missing out on much. It’s just the kids being able to go into the schoolyard and having their parents around. Actually, remember their carnival?”

Gus smiled. As soon as the spring weather turned nice, Octie’s school had a “carnival.” The children created the games and some of the rides. It was cute and the children had so much fun. Octie had been proud, having helped her class construct a game stand that involved knocking over “milk” bottles. Octie forced her to play that game until she won everyone in her family a prize from that booth.

“The picnic is basically the carnival without the rides and it only involves the second grade today,” Jayce said.

“Okay. So, each grade gets one?”

“I’m not so sure if each grade gets one. I think it depends on the teachers. You’ll like it.”

Gus knew she would. She went to change clothes, as Octie would undoubtedly want her to play. Once she was in jeans and a t-shirt, she peeked in on their son once more. She felt his forehead and it felt normal. Whispering well wishes, she kissed his forehead and returned to the kitchen. She took the treats and gave Jayce a kiss before leaving for Octie’s school.

“Call me about Caesar,” Gus called to her wife as she climbed into the car.

“Every hour. I know,” Jayce answered with a warm smile.

Gus pulled out of the driveway and drove to Octie’s school. Amongst the many reasons they had moved to the area a couple of years ago was the amazing school system. Octie loved her school and her parents approved. Jayce made it a point to build good relationships with Octie’s teachers and she often volunteered to do class activities. Gus did what she could, but felt like she might be missing out, or even dropping the ball.

Gus signed in at the front desk and got a visitor’s pass and directions to the schoolyard, even though she did not need them. She steadied her load of treats and went down a hall to a pair of double doors. Exiting through them, she heard the cheering of twenty second-graders as they ran about the schoolyard. Before Octie spotted her, an adult wandered over. It was Octie’s teacher, Ms. Pipin.

“Excuse me, may I help you?” Ms. Pipin inquired with a smile, doing her best to appear friendly. She looked more apprehensive than anything else, though. She was around Jayce’s age. She wore in a flowery sundress with a powder blue cardigan over it.

Gus smiled. “Hi. I’m Octavia’s mom. I’m here for the picnic.”

Ms. Pipin frowned. “Octavia’s mom?” While Gus knew the teacher on sight, they had never met face to face.

“Papa!” Octie screamed as she charged over from the throng of children.

Gus braced herself for a hit that did not come. Octie halted in front of her, grinning. Gus smiled down at her.

“Papa, I told my friends you were coming and you had the cookies,” Octie said, bouncing on her heels. Gus glanced around at the dozens of second graders and wondered how in the world anyone dealt with twenty Octies in a room.

“Papa?” Ms. Pipin echoed, eyebrows curling up.

Gus smiled proudly. “She calls me ‘papa.’“ She turned her attention to Octie. “Hey, bud, you go play while I talk to Ms. Pipin, okay? I’ll be right there.”

Octie saluted. “Okay!” She charged off.

“I hope she listens to you just like that,” Gus commented.

“Octie’s a good kid. She’s full of spunk,” Ms. Pipin remarked with a smile. “So, I’m sorry for eyeing you before. Have we met?”

“No, we haven’t. I’ve seen you from afar on the couple of occasions I picked up Octie from school.”

Ms. Pipin nodded. “So, you’re Jayce’s…”

“I’m her wife, yes.” Gus hoped they were not about to have an awkward moment. She and Jayce were still sort of the “weird lesbian” couple in the neighborhood.

“I’m sorry. I just… I just wasn’t expecting that. Octie only refers to her other parent as ‘papa’ so I assumed…” Ms. Pipin glanced away as a light pink flush stained her cheeks.

Gus chuckled. “No harm, no foul. Octie’s called me papa for a while now and I don’t mind. I’m sure Jay just calls me Gus if she talks about me at all.” She was not surprised that her wife was already on the first name basis with Octie’s new teacher. Last year, Gus felt like Octie’s teacher was Jayce’s new BFF.

Ms. Pipin nodded. “She does. She tells me you do homework with Octie every night.”

Gus nodded. “Yeah. It’s one of our things.” She and Octie had a lot of “things.” She had always had that with her parents and she wanted to give her kids the same special feeling that came when they did a “thing” together.

“That’s good. Let me show you to the picnic table, so you can put all of that down,” Ms. Pipin offered.

Gus nodded and followed the teacher. The children attacked the cookies and cake as promised. Gus had one more surprise for them. She brought copies of her latest game for all of them. So, everyone got to walk away with a disc that she could only hope made it home if the kids’ parents were not there already. After that, Octie dragged her into play tag where she got to be “it.”

Somehow, being “it” ended with Gus on the ground with a pile of children on top of her, led by her daughter of course. By the time Gus crawled out from under them, she was fairly certain she would need ice for her knees. Thankfully, a friendly face pulled her up and got her to the safety of the park benches.

“I swear, Gus, the more kids around you, the worse you are,” a parent, Michelle, commented. They knew each other as Michelle’s son had also been in the same kindergarten class as Octie.

Gus laughed. “I love kids.”

Michelle nodded and then had to go rescue her own son from being way too high on the monkey bars. Ms. Pipin sat down in her place, apparently wanting to speak more with Gus. Gus felt like she was in trouble with her own teacher.

“I just wanted to talk to you for a moment and tell you what a good job you’re doing with Octie,” Ms. Pipin said.

Gus sighed and relaxed. “Thank you.”

“No, thank you. She’s very energetic, but also eager to please. She listens well and she’s very attentive. She loves learning. I’m sure most days she comes in and wants to tell everyone about what she learned with her papa the other night.”

Gus felt pride swell in her chest. “We do our best to make sure she’s well-behaved and it’s always good that she likes to learn.”

“She’s told the class often that you make stuff for the computer. Her words, of course. It was nice of you to give them out to the kids.”

“I hope they have fun with it. It’s one of Octie’s favorite games.”

Ms. Pipin nodded. “Please, continue on doing what you’re doing. She’s a bright girl.”

Gus nodded, as she and Jayce had every intent on continuing on raising Octie the way they were. The picnic was nice and Gus made a promise to herself to go to more of Octie’s school activities. Octie had a good time, getting Gus involved in everything. Gus was going to have to take a nap when she got home.

“Papa, is Gus-Gus okay?” Octie asked, holding Gus’ hand as they walked back to the car. School was over, as was the picnic. Gus just wanted to get home, see her little man, and hold her wife.

“Yes, your mommy said his fever is gone, but he’s still coughing. He’s probably going to have soup for dinner tonight,” Gus reported.

“I want soup!”

Gus chuckled. “Of course you do.”

“Yeah, because it’s not fair for us to eat yummy stuff and he gets soup.”

Gus nodded in agreement, enjoying that logic. After arriving home, she shared it with Jayce. Jayce made soup for everyone and also grilled cheese sandwiches to help fill them up. Gus-Gus was able to have both, so he was not left out, but he still moaned and groaned the whole time he was awake.

“Octie, come on. Bath time,” Jayce urged their daughter after dinner was done.

Octie charged off as always with Jayce right behind her. Gus handled the dishes while Gus-Gus curled up on the sofa, looking quite miserable. Gus gathered him in her arms when she was done with the dishes and he cuddled into her chest.

“You’ll get better, little man,” she promised him.

He grumbled nonsense words and frowned. “Mommy…”

“She’s coming.”

She was not surprised that he practically leaped on Jayce when she came back with Octie. Octie was in her pajamas and wasted no time climbing into Gus’ lap. They watched a movie as a family and Octie fell asleep halfway through. Because Octie seemed to be turned all the way up after she got out of bed, she tended to burn out early. If she could stay up until nine, it was a minor miracle.

“Mommy…” Gus-Gus mumbled in his sleep. He was curled tightly against Jayce’s chest, clutching her shirtsleeve.

“Poor little guy,” Gus said, rubbing his forehead. “Of course, if I could cuddle into you all day, I’d take a little cold for my troubles.”

Jayce shook her head. “You are terrible. Let’s put them to bed.”

Gus nodded and they rose from the sofa, both making sure to keep tight hold on their cargo. Octie remained asleep when she hit her bed, but Gus-Gus woke up and proved to be well enough to want a story. They read his favorite and he was asleep by the end.

With the children in bed and Gus-Gus feeling a little better, Jayce and Gus found themselves preparing for bed. Gus took a quick shower and then curled herself around Jayce in bed. Gus smiled.

“Happy now that you’re cuddled into me?” Jayce teased.

“And I didn’t even have to be sick for it. Winning,” Gus chuckled.

Jayce laughed and they spoke about their days. Jayce made sure to tell Gus all about Gus-Gus’ sickness. Gus was just as detailed with her day with Octie. Gus sighed, this was everything she ever wanted. It was wonderful.

“You and the kids are a dream come true,” Gus whispered.

“But, you are the dreamer that makes it all possible,” Jayce replied with a smile.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: someone from the past causes a scare for the family.


	2. Meetings

2: Meetings

Octie Tucker stood in the schoolyard, waiting for her mommy to show up. She tugged on her book bag straps and then rubbed her hands together, eager for her mother to appear. She needed to tell her mommy how they learned about frogs and how they start out as baby tadpoles. She wondered if Gus-Gus had ever been a baby tadpole before being a baby human. She would have to ask her papa. Her papa knew everything, so her papa could tell her.

Distractedly, she noticed a weird guy by the edge of the gate. He looked scary and he had a hood on. He noticed her, too, and waved at her before motioning for her to come over. She shook her head. She was not supposed to leave the yard until her mommy came. He beckoned her again with his hand and she shook her head. She turned away from him, hoping he would disappear. Instead, when she turned back around to check if he went away, she discovered he stood right next to her. She yelped.

“Hey, it’s cool, Princess.” He smiled at her and she stepped back. Why did he know her nickname? “You don’t have to be scared. I’m your daddy.” He reached out as if to touch her and panic scorched through her tiny form like a flash fire.

Octie almost tripped over herself as she turned to escape. She needed an adult. Her mommy or her papa. Or Ms. Pipin! She spotted her teacher near a few more children from her class. She practically attached herself to Ms. Pipin’s leg.

“Octavia, what’s wrong?” Ms. Pipin inquired. She called Octie by her whole name, which Octie really liked. It seemed very grown up and it calmed her down.

Octie pointed by the gate entrance. “Stranger!”

The teacher looked up on high alert. It reminded Octie of when prairie dogs were looking out for snakes and coyotes. The man was gone and Octie remained behind the teacher. He could come back.

“What stranger?” Ms. Pipin asked with a creased brow, still looking for the man.

“He was there and said he was my daddy!” Octie reported with a tremble, her grip tightened on the teacher’s leg. Her heart felt like it would burst out of her chest because it beat so hard.

Ms. Pipin frowned and reached down, rubbing the child’s shoulder. “I’ll call your mom to see where she is, all right?”

“Thank you.”

Octie remained exactly where she was and watched the gate while Ms. Pipin used her cell phone to contact Jayce. “Hello, this is Ms. Pipin calling for Mrs. Tucker.”

“Speaking. Is there anything wrong? I’m two minutes away,” Jayce replied.

“No, nothing’s wrong. I would like to discuss a matter with you, though, when you arrive.”

“All right. Two minutes.”

“Okay.”

Ms. Pipin put her phone away and placed a comforting hand back on Octie’s shoulder. The child continued staring at the gate, like she searched for the devil himself. She also remained behind her teacher, holding her leg. Ms. Pipin could feel the little girl quivering. Suddenly, a huge smile took over Octie’s cocoa features. She could see Jayce coming up the street.

“Mommy!”

-8-8-8-8-

Jayce practically jogged to the school, pushing Gus-Gus in his stroller. He laughed, probably enjoying how fast she pushed him. Gus actually hated that she pushed him, even though he could walk. He just did not walk very fast and she hated that she was always a few minutes late picking up Octie. Besides, it did not seem fair to her to have him try to walk the distance between the house and the school.

Now, she was worried, even though Ms. Pipin tried to assure her nothing was wrong. Had her bad habit of being a couple of minutes late meant something happened to her little girl while she was supposed to be there? She would never forgive herself if Octie was hurt. Gus would not forgive her either.

As she pushed the stroller into the yard, she heard Octie’s happy cry. She could see Octie moving toward her at a rapid clip, even more so than usual. Stopping, she bent down to embrace her daughter. Octie latched onto her and held her tightly, speaking rapidly into her shoulder while clinging to her. Jayce cradled her shaken child to her, but looked to Ms. Pipin for an explanation.

“What happened?” Jayce stood, holding Octie to her. She would not be able to do this much longer. Her little girl was getting heavy.

“She said a man approached her at the gate and she thankfully ran to me. He was gone before I could even see him,” Ms. Pipin explained.

Jayce frowned. “Approached her?” She turned her attention to Octie. “Baby, what happened? Did he touch you?”

Octie shook her head. “He didn’t touch me. I ran when he came near me.”

“And you did a very good job. It was smart of you to run to Ms. Pipin and tell her what happed. You did a very good job,” Jayce cooed and kissed the side of Octie’s head. She then looked at Ms. Pipin. “Did anything else happen?”

“No, I think she’s just shaken by this. I’ll see if there’s anything on the school cameras,” Ms. Pipin replied.

Jayce nodded. “Thank you.”

“He said he was my daddy,” Octie chimed in.

“Your daddy?” Jayce echoed with an arched eyebrow. Who the hell would try to snatch her baby by claiming to be her daddy? “And he didn’t touch you, right?” She needed to be sure.

“No,” Octie repeated, shaking her head into Jayce’s shoulder. “I wanna go home.”

Jayce nodded. “Okay. We’ll go home.” Again, her attention went back to the teacher. “Please, call me if you find who spoke to her.”

Ms. Pipin nodded and Jayce held onto Octie as she walked out of the schoolyard. There was no way that she would be able to carry Octie all the way home, even though her daughter was small. After a block, she had to put the child down. Octie practically fastened their hands together.

“Do you want to go to the park?” Jayce asked in a soft tone. They usually went to the park and she let the kids play for an hour or so. By the time they left and made it home, Gus would be home in about an hour.

Octie shook her head, her little forehead furrowed and worry lines were at the corners of her mouth. Jayce disliked seeing her overly happy-go-lucky child like this. She squeezed Octie’s hand.

“You want me to call Papa?” Jayce asked.

Silence settled between them. Jayce was not sure what to make of that. Gus was the one that Octie went to when she was scared. At first, this bothered Jayce until she realized Octie did it because Gus just seemed to know what to say to make monsters vanish and things like that. Octie did not want to hear Jayce telling her that these things were not real or some other explanation. She wanted Gus, who would tell her something like if she hit a button on her TV remote, it would make everything, but her clothes and her shoes fly out into space so no monsters could get her.

“Yes, please,” Octie answered in a small voice.

“It’s all right, baby. Nothing’s going to happen,” Jayce promised.

“He’s not my daddy. Papa’s my daddy,” Octie grumbled.

“Yes, Papa is,” Jayce concurred. She knew Gus would not like to be called a daddy, but right now, it was what Octie needed to hear.

“He’s not gonna take me from Papa, right?”

Jayce scoffed, loudly and dramatically. “No one could take you from Papa.” She was sure that was true. Hell, if she and Gus, for whatever reason, got divorced, she was certain Gus would sue for custody of both kids if they could not work out joint custody.

Octie nodded, but her face did not improve. The walk home was much longer than usual. Octie dragged her feet, but she never let go of Jayce’s hand. There was an ice cream truck on the way, but Octie did not even bother to look at it.

“You don’t want a cone with sprinkles?” Jayce asked, rubbing her daughter’s back.

Octie just shook her head. Jayce glanced over the hood of the stroller, wanting to see why Gus-Gus was not screaming for ice cream. Apparently, the heat got to him because Gus-Gus was asleep. Jayce sighed. She really wanted to take him to the park because without that and with this extra nap, he would be wired for the rest of the night.

They were home within a half-hour. Octie dropped her book bag by the stairs as usual. It would be picked up when Gus came home and they would do homework together. Jayce took the baby out of his stroller and put him to bed. Octie stayed by her side the whole time.

“You want your snack?” Jayce asked once Gus-Gus was tucked into bed.

“Yes, please,” Octie said quietly.

Jayce went to the kitchen with Octie on her heels. Octie climbed on a stool, very careful as she had the stools fall on her more than once, and sat at the counter. Jayce presented her with a snack of graham crackers with yogurt spread on top with sliced bananas. It was usually one of Octie’s favorite snacks, but she just nibbled them today. Jayce sat down next to her daughter and put an arm around her shoulder.

“It’s all right, baby. He didn’t hurt you,” Jayce assured the child.

Octie scowled. “I didn’t like that stuff he said. He’s not my daddy. I didn’t even know him. He was scary.”

“He won’t get you or anything. It’ll be fine, okay?”

Octie nodded and was silent for almost a minute. “My classmates… some of them… they thought it was weird Papa is… a girl.”

 _Ah ha!_  This was about more than a stranger shaking Octie up. She was also uncomfortable with some of her classmates. She hoped her little girl was not being bullied for having two mommies. They had made it through kindergarten and first grade without having to worry about it.

“They said papas are boys and he was a boy and he said he was my daddy. Is my daddy a boy?” Octie asked.

Jayce frowned. She and Gus had discussed talking to Octie about her biological father, but they hoped it would happen when she was a little older. She also wanted to make sure Octie understood that no matter what Gus was her ‘papa.’ Scarier than that, she had to also make sure Octie continued to view her as ‘mommy’ because she was not the child’s biological mother.

“You know, we’ve told you that families are different. Sometimes, people have two parents and other people only have one. Some people even have more than that. Some people have two mothers or two fathers or a mother and a father or just one mother or just one father,” Jayce said.

Octie sighed. “I know.”

Jayce sighed as well. She was not sure what Octie needed to hear to make things better, except the person who approached her was not her father. Of course, Octie knew that already, so Jayce tried something else.

“You have a great papa, Octie. Papas don’t have to be boys, okay?” Jayce asked.

Octie nodded, but she did not make it through her snack. She played around with the treat until Gus came in a couple of hours later. As soon as she heard the keys in the door, Octie was off the stool, almost falling on her face because she moved too quickly. She hit Gus at the knees before the businesswoman was barely through the door.

“Whoa,” Gus said with a laugh. “What did I do to get such an affectionate greeting?” She leaned down to wrap her arms around their daughter.

“She had a little scare at school,” Jayce reported as she stepped into the foyer.

Gus’ brow furrowed and she tilted her head to the side a bit. “Scare at school?”

“Yes. She’ll tell you about it.”

Gus turned to Octie. “Do you want to tell me about it?”

Octie nodded, her wide dark eyes never leaving her papa’s face. Gus looked at Jayce, who sighed. They walked to the living room and sat on the couch. Octie sat in the middle, leaning on Gus, but holding Jayce’s hand with both of her own. Jayce felt like a stone settled in her stomach because Octie’s hand shook so badly.

“What happened, Little Bit?” Gus asked, rubbing the child’s leg.

“A man… a man came up to me at school,” Octie’s voice quivered.

Gus frowned. “A man? How did he get to in? Was this someone’s parent?”

“I didn’t know him,” Octie readily admitted, as if afraid that she would get in trouble for what happened.

“A stranger came up to you?” Gus inquired.

“Yeah! He was scary!” Octie nodded vigorously, eyes wide again.

Gus frowned deeper. “Did he try anything?”

Octie shook her head. “He just said he was my daddy.”

Gus growled and Jayce reached over, using her free hand to hold Gus’ hand and keep her calm. Gus held her hand so tightly, she feared Gus would crush it. Octie seemed oblivious to the distress that she caused her papa, so she pressed on with her story.

“I ran from him and Ms. Pipin called Mommy,” Octie said.

Gus took a deep breath and swallowed so hard that Jayce could see her throat move. “You did good by running.” Gus managed to say, but her voice was so low, like she could barely speak.

“Yeah, Mommy told me I did a good job. I know not to talk to strangers,” Octie boasted, but there was no joy in her voice.

“Did you find out who the guy was?” Gus asked. She breathed hard, her chest visibly rising and falling.

“No, he was gone by the time Ms. Pipin looked up. She said she’ll check the cameras for us,” Jayce replied, squeezing Gus’ hand, trying her best to help her spouse through this. “The school has cameras on the outside, just in case something like this happens.”

Taking another very deep breath, Gus licked her lips. “So, has she called yet?”

“No, not yet.”

Gus sighed heavily through her nose. “Maybe we should go to the police. I mean, a random guy told our daughter he was her daddy. Maybe he’ll go after other kids.”

“Or maybe…” Jayce trailed off, hoping Gus would get her implications without her having to come right out and say what she thought happened.

“Or maybe?” Gus asked.

Jayce just nodded a bit and Gus’ eyes widened. From there, Gus shifted to comforting Octie. She went with their routine, getting Octie’s homework and starting that. Jayce was occupied as Gus-Gus wandered to the stairs, stark naked.

“Oh, god, why does he keep taking his clothes off?” Jayce said, rushing upstairs to put the boy back in his clothing.

“Mommy, look!” Gus-Gus declared proudly, holding up his briefs.

“No, no, no, you put those on right now, buster!” Jayce ordered and the boy took off running.

Gus-Gus seemed to be stuck in the “nudist” phase of being a child. For the better part of a year, he had done his best to figure out how to get out of all of his clothes. Jayce continuously worried that someone was going to think they abused him because he stripped any time, any place. He used to do it all the time, but now he just did it randomly and she never knew when he was going to strike.

Gus-Gus giggled as he ran off. Jayce caught him with no problem, but getting him into clothing was a huge problem. He yanked and pulled whenever she put anything on him. He wiggled, trying to get away or keep her from putting anything on. He did it all with a smile, as if totally proud of himself for giving her a hard time.

“Gus-Gus, stop that,” Jayce scolded him as he pulled off his tank top while she was trying to get him into his shorts.

“But, don’t wan’ it,” Gus-Gus grinned and flung the shirt to the floor.

“Gus-Gus, if you don’t leave that shirt on, you’re not going to have a snack,” she told him.

He pouted. “But, I wan’ snack.”

“Then you have to leave your clothes on.”

He grumbled, but finally left his shirt on. Jayce was certain he was the child that would turn her hair gray, even though Octie was more energetic and daring. Octie could at least be reasoned with. Gus-Gus did not want to hear it unless he was threatened with something. She was going to be in trouble when not having a snack was not motivating enough.

-8-8-8-8-

The kids were down after baths and stories. Gus had to take a long, hot shower, hoping it would calm her down. It did not. Seeing Jayce relaxed on the bed with a book while some strange man had possibly tried to kidnap or molest their daughter did not help.

“Do you know this guy or something?” Gus demanded, pacing in front of their bed.

“I think it might be Q,” Jayce admitted, eyes glued to Gus.

Gus stopped. “Your brother?” Her eyes narrowed. “We haven’t heard from him in two years and then he was asking for money. Have you been in contact with him?” More so, had Jayce been enabling him or supporting him in any way, shape, or form? How else would he know where to find their daughter?

“No, I haven’t been in contact with him,” Jayce answered with a scowl. She glared at her spouse.

As far as Gus knew, Jayce’s older brother, Quentin Newton, had dismissed himself from her life, as well as their daughter’s life. He signed away his parental rights to Octie, who was his biological daughter, and disappeared. He only showed up a few times since, disappointing Jayce each time by begging for money to support his drug habit. He never even asked about Octie. Gus liked to believe Jayce had not given him any money, but something was wrong here.

“Then how would he even know where to find her?” Gus demanded.

“I don’t know. My mother more than likely,” Jayce answered.

Gus exhaled heavily and scratched her eyebrow with her pinkie. She felt like she would never be rid of goddamn Marion Newton, no matter how much the legal system tried to keep her away from them. She wanted to put her fist through something, but since everything in the room belonged to them, she figured that was probably not the best way to express her anger.

“Why the hell would he do this?” Gus inquired.

“I don’t know. I haven’t spoken with him in two years. Maybe he changed and cleaned up,” Jayce answered.

Rolling her eyes, Gus scoffed. She wished Jayce would stop having that dream since no evidence pointed to that happening. “Yeah, and what, now he thinks he can just take our kid from us?”

“Maybe he just wants to get to know her and he went about it the wrong way.”

“Defending him as always,” Gus huffed before she realized what she said.

Jayce scowled again, her nostrils flared in anger. “I’m not defending him. I’m just saying it is possible. There has to be a rock bottom somewhere. Maybe he hit it and he’s trying to build himself back up.”

“Oh, please. Having a baby depend on him didn’t even bottom him out. Now, he’s got nothing that he’s responsible for and suddenly he’s seen the light? Stop kidding yourself,” Gus said.

Jayce flinched, as if wounded. Gus finally realized she was basically attacking Jayce for loving her brother. Sighing, Gus eased into bed and tried to put her arms around Jayce. Jayce dodged the contact, though. Gus frowned.

“Jay bird,” Gus cooed, hoping the pet name would help somehow. No such luck, though.

Jayce stared down at her lap. “I have to believe that eventually my brother will get better. He’s not a bad guy. He just makes poor decisions. I’m sorry his poor decisions affect us, but I’m not going to just write him off because of his poor decisions.”

“You shouldn’t write him off. I don’t mean to make it sound like you should. I just don’t like the idea of him approaching our daughter any more than a stranger. You said it yourself, he makes poor decisions. He’s already approached her wrong if it was him and he might continue to do this wrong. What if he just snatches her? He called himself her daddy. What if he still thinks she’s his and he just grabs her?” Gus’ throat clenched around the words. The idea that their daughter could just be snatched frightened her more than anything else.

“He won’t. I won’t let him. I’ll be there early for her for the rest of the year.”

“You say that and then the second you’re ready to leave, Gus the second will strip and you’ll have to redress him for the umpteenth time,” Gus sighed. It was an unfortunate aspect of their lives wherever they tried to go anywhere. Gus-Gus never failed to get out of his clothes and make them late.

“I’ll be early, even if I have to get him ready two hours in advance.”

Gus doubted that would work, but she had put her foot in her mouth more than enough this conversation. “What if… what if it’s not your brother?”

Jayce’s eyes went wide. Apparently, this had not occurred to Jayce. Now, she turned into Gus. Gus cradled Jayce to her.

“She ran, Gus. A stranger approached her and she ran. She went to an adult,” Jayce said, comforting herself with the fact that their daughter did the right thing.

“I’ll go over stranger danger with her in the car. Hopefully, he was caught on camera.”

Jayce nodded and they were silent for awhile. Gus was not sure what to say. She was more worried about it being Jayce’s brother. If that was him, then it meant Marion Newton was back in their lives because that was the only way he could have found them. The woman made it her mission in life to make Jayce live in misery, which included trying to take their daughter from them on multiple occasions. She had taken Jayce to court for custody, tried to stop Quentin from giving up his parental rights, hired a private detective to spy on them and get dirt on them from their neighbors to prove God only knew what, and a host of other things. They had restraining orders against on her, but Gus always felt like it would never be enough.

-8-8-8-8-

The next day, Ms. Pipin let them know the man that approached Octie was on camera. Since Gus took Octie to school, she had first look. Unfortunately, Gus had never actually met Quentin. The day he signed away his parental rights, he only wanted to see Jayce and they had not been married at the time, so Gus could not demand to join in. To Gus, the man was a stranger.

When Jayce came in the afternoon, ten minutes early, Ms. Pipin showed her the video. It was as she thought. Her brother somehow found Octie. She would have felt much better if only he did not appear in the same condition as always.

“Do you know him?” Ms. Pipin asked.

“Yes, that’s my brother. I’m sure he’s probably not a threat to any of the other students. He doesn’t have permission to take Octavia, though. I don’t want him near her,” Jayce stated. It was good to know some random stranger had not tried to steal her daughter, but she could not trust her brother was in his right mind. He could just as easily try to walk off with Octie, either believing her to be his daughter or even to extort money from them.

“All right,” Ms. Pipin agreed.

“Papa told me to wait next to Ms. Pipin every day till you come,” Octie reported.

“That’s good and you did good because you did just what Papa said,” Jayce said. Octie nodded and Jayce turned her attention back to the teacher. “I’m sorry about this. Gus and I will get to the bottom of this.”

Ms. Pipin nodded. “It’s fine. I’ll do my best to keep an eye on her in school.”

“I’ll make sure to get here on time from now on and handle things with my brother,” Jayce assured the teacher.

Ms. Pipin nodded and Jayce took Octie’s hand for them to leave. Gus-Gus kicked his legs in the stroller. Octie was oddly silent, as she had been since yesterday. Jayce frowned, not enjoying this depressed version of her daughter.

“Octie, are you okay?” Jayce asked.

Octie’s face scrunched up. “Is that man gonna come back for me?”

“No, Octie, I promise. He’s not going to come back for you and he’s not going to get you. He’s just confused. Papa and I are going to find him and make sure he doesn’t scare you again,” Jayce vowed.

Octie nodded. “And you’ll make sure he knows Papa is my daddy and not him, right?”

“Right.”

Octie nodded again and smiled. “Then can we get ice cream and go to the park?”

Jayce grinned. “Of course we can.”

“Ice cream!” Gus-Gus erupted with joy, pitching forward and almost tilting over the stroller. Jayce only laughed; they would run her ragged at the park, but she was happy things were back to normal.

-8-8-8-8-

Jayce watched as Octie carried her snack carefully into the living room to sit with Gus. It was homework time. While Octie set herself up, Gus stood next to Jayce.

“So, are you sure it was your brother?” Gus asked. Jayce had texted Gus while she was at the park, letting Gus know some stranger had not tried to make off with their child.

“I’m positive. You were right, though. He didn’t look like he has bottomed out and was starting to rebuild. He looks like I remember.”

Sighing, Gus pulled Jayce to her. “I wish I wasn’t right about that. I’m sorry for you. What do you think he was trying to do?”

“I don’t know. I think we’ll have to find him to find out what he’s up to.”

“What do you want to do in order to find him?”

Jayce shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t want to call the police and say he tried to kidnap Octie. Even if he can get out of that, he’d probably be high when they picked him up and he would go to jail because of that. Maybe we can just wait him out. I doubt he has the patience to continue stalking her.”

“Yes, but if your mother is involved, she’ll have someone else do her dirty work or she’ll just pressure him. We can’t wait your mother out.”

Jayce was at a loss. “I don’t know what to do.”

“We’ll figure it out. I need to get going for that meeting.”

“We need to talk to Octie about Q, too. She was there when I said he was my brother. While she hasn’t asked about it—”

Gus finished the sentence. “It’s only a matter of time. Okay, after our meeting.”

Jayce nodded and smiled. Gus went to her ‘meeting,’ as she tended to call her and Octie doing homework. Jayce kept Gus-Gus occupied and made dinner. Once Gus-Gus was put to bed, the mothers sat down with Octie.

“So, little bit, we want to talk to you about the man that you saw yesterday,” Gus informed her.

“Mommy said he’s not gonna get me,” Octie replied.

“No, he’s not. But, do you have any questions about him?” Gus inquired.

Octie turned her eyes to Jayce. “You said he’s ya brother?”

“Your,” Gus corrected the child.

“Your brother,” Octie said.

“He is my brother,” Jayce confirmed.

Octie screwed up her face. “He said he was my daddy. He’s both?”

“No, he’s not,” Jayce stated. “You said it before, your papa is your daddy, right?” She could see Gus frowning, even though she was focused on Octie.

Octie nodded and then looked at Gus. “You’re my daddy, right, Papa?”

“Well, I’m your papa,” Gus agreed, to an extent. She held onto the hope that one day Octie would realize she was her other mother, but she accepted her title since Octie knew she was her parent.

“Yeah, so he can’t be my daddy. Why would he say that?” Octie asked.

“He might be confused. My brother is very sick and sometimes his brain doesn’t work right,” Jayce answered.

“He should go to the doctor. The doctor fixes sick people. Sometimes without even giving them needles,” Octie explained, earning two smiles from her mothers.

“Well, his mommy hasn’t taken him to the doctor, so he hasn’t gotten fixed. He’s not going to hurt you, okay?” Jayce said, wanting to make sure Octie understood this.

Octie nodded. “You and Papa won’t let him.”

“No, we won’t,” Gus said. “We wouldn’t let anyone hurt you. But, he’s probably sorry he scared you. He might just want to know you.”

Octie nodded again. “That’s okay. I like knowing people.”

They laughed. Their daughter had no trouble making friends. Of course, her best friend continued to be their next door neighbor’s son, Travis, but she had tons of friends in school and at the park. Their child was sociable.

“Mommy, how come ya… your brother doesn’t come around? Auntie comes around all the time,” Octie pointed out.

“Auntie does come around all the time, but Auntie isn’t sick,” Jayce reminded the child.

This seemed to satisfy Octie. “Okay. So, what story do I get tonight?”

Her mothers laughed and put the girl to bed. They read her a favorite story and she fell asleep as easily as she usually did. She was at ease. Too bad Gus was not the same.

Gus paced the bedroom, more than she did the night before. Jayce watched her, not sure how to comfort Gus. Gus had to know that Quentin could not take their daughter. He had signed away all rights to her and they had both adopted Octie. Not at the same time, of course, but they had both adopted her, raised her. They were her parents.

Jayce was more worried about her mother. Marion had to be playing at something right now, but she could not figure out what. She doubted it would work. Marion had yet to beat her or Gus since Gus had come into her life.

“Baby, what do you want to do?” Jayce asked.

Gus sighed heavily. “I don’t know what we can do. I mean, even if we did call the police, we don’t know if he tried to kidnap Octie. The video didn’t show that. They might think we’re overreacting.”

“So, you don’t want to do anything?”

Gus stopped and stared at her wife. “You’re kidding, right? Of course, I want to do something. I don’t know if he’s working with your mother or something. They could have something planned for Octie.”

“What if we take a page out of my mother’s book?” Jayce suggested.

Gus arched an elegant eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“Hire a private detective to find him.”

Gus advanced on her wife. “That’s brilliant, Jay bird.” She leaned down and kissed Jayce with a relieved sort of passion. Jayce smiled.

“You shouldn’t worry, baby. You’ve given me the confidence to know she can’t beat us.”

Gus chuckled. “I just wish she would stop trying. I’m happy she doesn’t intimidate you anymore, though.”

“How could she? I know we can handle her now. We’ve been handling her. It is tiring to have to keep defending ourselves, but we’ll come out on top.”.

Gus settled in next to Jayce and put her arms around the smaller woman. Jayce cuddled in close. Gus had given her so many things: this confidence, their family, this home, and a love that she could not even put words to. She would not let anyone, especially her mother or even her brother take this from her, take this from Octie.

“She’s not going to come between us,” Gus promised.

Jayce sighed and relaxed against her spouse. This was what she needed to hear more than anything else. She needed to know that Gus would not get fed up with all of her baggage and leave, taking everything that she had given.

“She won’t,” Gus repeated and kissed the side of Jayce’s head.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: a normal family day.


	3. The weekend

3: The weekend

The weekend was upon the Tucker family. It was by far their favorite time of the week. There tended to be no homework, as it was always worked out on Friday for both Octie and Gus. So, the weekend was just two days of uninterrupted family time. Sometimes, friends were involved or Jannie would come over, but the family always remained together.

“Cartoons, cartoons, cartoons!” Octie chanted as she raced down the stairs early in the morning. “C’mon, Papa! Cartoons!”

Gus groaned. “Papa’s not as fast as you.” Papa also was not as awake as Octie since she did not have an 8:30 curfew. She got earlier on the weekends than she did other days.

Octie pouted and ran back to the stairs, grabbing Gus by the hand. Octie practically tugged her into the living room. Saturday morning cartoons were not what Gus remembered from her own childhood, but it seemed to be enough for her little girl. They parked themselves on the sofa with Octie sitting as close as she possibly could to Gus, who turned on the cartoons.

Gus smiled as her daughter cuddled against her. She was not sure why, but in that moment, she thought of Quentin Newton.  _How dare he introduce himself as her daddy? He’s never been there for her. He left her to die to go get a fucking fix. He has no rights to her, so how dare he claim anything about her? The nerve. The gall_.

“Where’s Mommy?” Octie wondered aloud, drawing Gus from her thoughts. Cartoons were a family event.

“Knowing your brother, I’m sure she’s trying to put his clothes back on,” Gus commented. She could hear the patter of Gus-Gus’ feet as he undoubtedly ran from Jayce upstairs.

“Little boy, if you don’t get back here!” Jayce called.

Octie’s face scrunched up. “Why does Gus-Gus like being naked? Travis doesn’t like being naked, so it’s not because he’s a boy.”

Gus chuckled a little, liking the fact that her young daughter could use logic to a degree. “I don’t know why Gus-Gus likes to be naked. It’s probably just a phase. You went through a naked phase, too.”

Octie gasped. “No, I didn’t! I like my pretty clothes.”

Gus made a face. “Ah, there were some months when you were about three that you didn’t like your pretty clothes so much. You’d strip the moment we got home and run around naked.”

“No, I didn’t!” Octie’s mouth gaped in disbelief.

“Oh, you totally did. Your mommy chased you around just like she chases Gus-Gus now.” Gus smiled at the memory. Octie had been a speedy little bugger, but eventually she allowed herself to be caught and redressed. Gus-Gus had to be bribed every single time because even when he was caught and redressed, he would just strip again if there were no incentives to stay clothed.

“Caesar, you get your little naked butt over here and away from those stairs!” Jayce ordered.

Gus popped up at the word “stairs.” Gus-Gus was not allowed near the steps. Marching to the stairs, she saw the boy was, indeed, tiptoeing toward them. Gus bounded up stairs and scooped him up while he was busy tormenting his poor mommy.

“Hey, lil Caesar, what have we told you about those stairs?” Gus huffed.

Gus-Gus’ dark brown eyes went wide before dropping to look at the floor. “Sorry, Papa.”

“Don’t be sorry. Be good. Now, go to Mommy and get your clothes on,” Gus commanded, pointing toward his room.

Gus-Gus pouted, but he did as he was told. Gus shook her head. She would like to put the gate back to the stairs, but the damned thing was so good that Octie could not figure out how to operate it. The parents would not have minded if only Octie did not go to her room about every twenty minutes. That meant every twenty minutes, she needed someone to open the gate for her. Once Gus-Gus showed signs of understanding he was not supposed to be near the stairs, Gus removed the gate. Gus-Gus tended to shy away from the stairs, fearing the wrath of his Papa.

“Jay, you got him?” Gus called.

“Yes, thank you!” Jayce replied.

Shaking her head, Gus returned to her spot on the sofa with Octie. Octie wasted no time curling back into Gus. Moments later, Jayce plopped Gus-Gus down on Gus’ lap and he leaned against her chest. Jayce smiled down at them.

“What do you guys want for breakfast?” Jayce inquired.

“Pancakes!” they all cheered.

Jayce chuckled. “Of course.”

Gus and Octie grinned. They always requested and received pancakes on Saturday, even if they had just had them on Friday and would have them again on Monday. Jayce surprised them with the type of pancakes, but it did not matter. They loved flapjacks. Gus chuckled as she remembered when Octie called any breakfast food pancakes or cereal. She wondered what little quirks Gus-Gus would develop as he grew and what new quirks Octie would pick up as she continued to mature.

This was one of her favorite things about having kids, just watching them become people. Everyday she waited to see what was new about their children. Jayce shared this sentiment. They hoped they raised good people with great, gentle, and kind personalities, but so far, they felt like they were doing good jobs.

-8-8-8-8-

Jayce happily fixed blueberry pancakes for the family. It had been a while since they had those. As she went through the motions of preparing the breakfast, she listened to laughs coming from the living room. She would join them after breakfast and revel in just being together.

This was the family that she always wished she could have, but it had not worked out until she met Gus. Thinking of her family, she could not help thinking of her brother. Why had he showed up at Octie’s school? Why had he called himself her daddy after signing away his rights to her? How dare he make it seem like he cared, but still show up before an innocent six-year-old looking like a monster?

Shaking her head, she decided not to think about it. She could ask Quentin all those questions and more once their private investigator caught up with him. For now, breakfast was done, along with eggs and fruit, plates were made, and she called her family to the table.

“Pancakes!” they all cheered once more as they charged in to the dining room.

Gus snapped Gus-Gus into his highchair while Octie climbed into her own chair. It had a cushion on it to boost her over the table. Jayce eased into her seat while Gus pinched one of the baby’s slices of pancake, just to tease him. She popped it in her mouth and he actually glared at her.

“Mine, Papa. Mine!” Gus-Gus complained, leaning down to protect the first of his breakfast. He scowled at his papa.

“Hey, don’t look at me like that, boyo. You know you don’t eat until you see I want it anyway,” Gus remarked as she slid into her own chair.

“Mine!” Gus-Gus declared, picking up a piece of pancake with his hand. Once upon a time, forks and spoons had fascinated him. He quickly outgrew that phase after they purchased him his own little safe set of silverware. He preferred his hands and to make sure he ate, they left him to his own devices. They would just clean him off after a meal.

“But, don’t you wanna share with your papa?” Gus teased, reaching over and messing with his bare feet.

He giggled and kicked his chubby feet. “No, mine!” he huffed.

Jayce chuckled, but she needed to intervene. Gus had on more than one occasion played with the kids until the meal got cold. Gus was the only one amongst them that would eat a meal that was freezing cold.

“All right, all right, all right. Let him go, love. He’s had enough,” Jayce told Gus.

“Okay.” Gus relented, but then put on a mock-serious face and pointed at the baby. “You’re lucky your mommy was here, little man, or I would’ve eaten those toesies.”

The threat got a laugh out of Gus-Gus. Sometimes, Jayce felt like she just did not speak the boy’s language. She did not mind.

“Can we have strawberry pancakes tomorrow?” Octie requested before shoving a mouthful of pancakes in her mouth. Syrup dripped down the corner of her mouth.

“Yes, I can make those,” Jayce agreed.

“What? But, I want chocolate chip ones. We haven’t had those for, like, a month,” Gus objected.

Smirking, Jayce scoffed. “You know you’ll eat any kind of pancake. I’m surprised you even taste them the way you just shove them down your throat.”

Gus chuckled and proved her wife’s point, shoving six pieces of syrup-covered pancakes into her mouth. Jayce merely shook her head. Octie watched her papa and then decided to try her hand at the same thing. While Octie did not have as many pancakes as Gus, her mouth was also very small, so her actions were just as bad.

“Octavia, no,” Jayce gently scolded the girl.

“But, Papa…” Octie pointed to her other mother.

Jayce narrowed her eyes on Gus, who swallowed everything in her mouth before chuckled nervously. Jayce nodded toward their daughter and Gus nodded. Gus turned her attention squarely on Octie.

“Octie, you know how we’re supposed to take small bites and chew politely with our mouths closed, right?” Gus said because they had this discussion on more than one occasion, generally after Gus made it a point to see how much food she could stuff in her face.

“But, big bites are more fun,” Octie pointed out with a smile.

“Yeah, but they’re not polite.”

Octie nodded and turned up her mouth. “But, sometimes we’re not polite at home.”

Gus almost laughed, but Jayce knew and glared at her spouse, needing to keep Gus on track. Gus nodded. “Yeah, sometimes we’re not, but we should be because what we do at home is practice for what we do outside. We don’t want people to think we’re pigs outside, right?”

Octie twisted her mouth up again. “But, piggies are cute.”

“And so are you, but acting like pigs isn’t cute,” Gus stated. “Remember when we talked about living like a pig? Like when Mommy says your room is a pig sty?”

Octie nodded. “When it’s dirty.”

“And people don’t like stuff dirty, right?”

Octie frowned, showing Gus had gotten through to her. “Okay, Papa. I’ll eat smaller bites.”

They made it through breakfast without any more high jinx beyond Gus-Gus wearing his food at a point. Jayce sighed and wiped his sticky face with a damp cloth. He fought the entire time, dashing off the second she removed his messy tray from his highchair. She frowned as she realized Gus had not fastened him in… again.

“Gus, what have we spoken about?” Jayce inquired while wiping down the tray. Gus loaded the dishes in the dishwasher.

“He’s not going to fall out of the high chair and even if he does, we already know he’ll survive it,” Gus argued. They had seen the boy jump out of the thing enough to know it was not high enough to harm him, even if he hit his head.

“He’s fallen out before.”

Gus laughed. “That was a jump! On multiple occasions that was a jump!”

Jayce could not argue that, as it was always a jump. Gus-Gus was a little daredevil when he could barely walk. He jumped off of everything, crawled under even more, and tried his best to do whatever form of gymnastics his little toddler mind could come up with. She believed he picked it up from watching Octie.

“They get that from you,” Jayce teased.

“They get their crazy from me? How can you prove this?” Gus countered with an arched eyebrow.

“We both know your youth was spent blazing around until your father figured out that you needed to be in an organized sport.”

Gus made a face because she could not argue. Early in their relationship, Gus had shown Jayce many pictures of herself as a child and went through all of the stories of those photos. Jayce hung on her every word, a little envious of her lover’s childhood. Not because of what she did, but because both of her parents were there for everything.

“You were in a sport, too,” Gus countered.

“Not because I was all over the place, but because I wanted my dad and Q to see I could run, too. You were full of energy,” Jayce stated. Gus made another face.

“All right, time for us to get back to the cartoons!” Gus grabbed Jayce up and pulled her to the sofa, joining their children.

Cartoons were watched for another hour before the children got restless. It was time to go outside. They let Octie dress herself as she was a simple kid when left to her own wardrobe. Snatching her favorite pair of jeans, which had a hole in the knee, she then wiggled into a t-shirt with a killer whale on it.

“Come on,” Octie called to her parents as she charged down the stairs.

“What have we said about yelling through the house?” Jayce asked as she and Gus marched down the stairs. Jayce had Gus-Gus on her hip. He was dressed in pants that had a drawstring and Jayce had tied the most complicated knot she possibly could, hoping it would keep him from taking the pants off.

Octie pouted and eyed the floor. “No yelling in the house.”

“You have to watch your volume, little bit,” Gus reminded the child.

Octie nodded. “Sorry, Mommy, Papa.”

The parents waved it off and exited the house. They would just hang out in the front yard. Gus tumbled around with the children until Gus-Gus grew weary of it. He wobbled toward Jayce on tired legs and fell in the grass halfway through. This didn’t stop him and he just crawled over to Jayce. He pulled himself into her lap, wanting to read her book with her. Of course, he could not read, but he grinned as soon as Jayce began reading aloud.

After a couple of minutes, she switched books, always bringing one out for him. He giggled and pointed to the pictures. Turning to her, he grinned.

“Puppy!” he cheered.

“Yes, puppy. What’s the puppy called?” she asked. She had read him this book so many times she was certain he had memorized the lines with her.

“Red!” Gus-Gus clapped. “Red’s the only red one!”

Jayce smiled. “Yes, he is.” She started reading and he said the lines with her. She loved reading with him and wondered how long they would have this little tradition.

-8-8-8-8-

Gus knew she and Octie would be itchy later. They always were after rolling around on the front lawn. Jayce always warned them, but they never listened. Gus just could not get enough of playing with Octie and Octie seemed to have a very short memory when it came to grass. Their aimless game paused as Octie sat on Gus’ stomach, pinning her to the ground.

“I win! I am the conqueror!” Octie declared with her hands in the air.

“You win, you win,” Gus conceded. She was tempted to turn the tables, but every now and then, she thought it was good for Octie’s ego to let her think she had conquered her papa.

“Mommy, you see me win?” Octie inquired, her dark eyes shining with pride as she stared at her mother.

Jayce laughed. “You know I did. You beat your papa good.”

“I did!” Octie declared and then she turned her attention back to Gus. “Papa, let’s ride my bike now!”

Gus chuckled, always amazed at how quickly and easily their daughter switched gears. Nodding, Gus picked Octie up and placed her down on the ground. Octie ran off to get her bike from the side of the house. Not surprisingly, Octie’s bike was pink, as pink was the favorite color of princesses according to Octie and according to her mothers she was a princess. It was a darker pink than most with pink and white tassels coming from the handlebar grips. There was a little basket on the front for her to keep things.

“Do you want to practice without training wheels?” Gus asked as Octie climbed onto her “trusty steed.”

Octie probably would have said yes if her best friend on Earth had not emerged from his house next door in that exact moment. Travis Bradshaw rang his bell as he rode his dark blue and black bike down his walkway. Octie took off to meet him. They would ride up and down the street together. Travis’ father, Trevor, trotted out of his house and came over.

“Howdy, neighbor,” Trevor greeted them. “How’s my favorite Roman emperor?” He ruffled Gus-Gus’ hair.

“Book!” Gus-Gus declared, pointing down to the book Jayce was reading to him.

“Yeah, always reading to you and doing math games. You’re going to be the smartest guy on the block,” Trevor remarked with a grin.

Gus-Gus grinned and puffed out his chest. “Smart!”

“So, where’s Helena?” Jayce asked curiously.

Trevor shook his head. “Taking a nap. She’s worn out.”

“Does she really think she’ll be able to work until the day of delivery?” Gus asked. Trevor’s wife, Helena, was pregnant with their second child. Helena was an A-type to the extreme and determined to not let her pregnancy change her life. Of course, the more she fought it, the more it wore her out.

“She still swears that’s the plan. I think the doctor is one step away from ordering her on bed rest for the rest of the pregnancy, though,” Trevor reported. He turned away from them for a moment to check on his son and Octie. “I think it’s safe to say this is our last kid. No way in hell she’ll go through this a third time.”

Jayce shrugged. “You said that before and she’s pregnant now. I don’t think you should write her off just yet.”

Trevor nodded and smirked at Gus. “Wanna go mess with them?” He meant the kids.

“You know I do,” Gus replied.

“Bike sharks?”

“Bike sharks.”

Gus and Trevor bolted off, leaving Jayce behind with an amused smile. They basically just chased the children and pinched the children’s legs whenever they got close enough, making sounds as if they were biting the kids. This simple exercise earned laughs for almost a half-hour before the parents needed to take a break. They returned to the porch, sitting on the steps. Jayce was on her tablet while Gus-Gus played with a ball he had left in the yard.

“What are you working on there?” Trevor asked, glancing at the tablet.

“Just some work. I’ve got a client who I work payroll for. I need to make sure one of the workers got a small raise,” Jayce explained.

Trevor nodded and held up his hand. “High five to being able to work from home.”

Chuckling, Jayce gave him the high five. “How’s work going with you? You finished your latest book?”

Trevor shook his head. “No, I haven’t. Actually, Gus, do you mind if I pick your brain for it? I’m stuck on a bit of advice and I think you’d be able to tell people what they should do.”

“Sure, no problem,” Gus answered. “Are you and Travis still going to the zoo with us next weekend?” They wanted to take the children to the zoo while the weather was still nice enough for it.

“I don’t see why not. Travis is looking forward to it. He kills me. We’ve gone to the zoo, what, four times this summer?” Trevor asked.

“Was it four?” Jayce was incredulous.

“It was four. How could we possibly have gone to the zoo so much?” Gus wondered aloud.

“Because Travis is a crazy man and that’s his favorite trip. He was seriously bugging me this morning about it, thinking this was the Saturday of the trip. How in the world can he be so excited to see the same animals?” Trevor pondered with a smile.

“Same way Octie is. Maybe they’re new animals and you have to be under ten to know it,” Gus joked.

Trevor chuckled. The children rode by on their bikes again. Octie rang her bell and waved at them as she passed by. Travis grinned wide. The parents all waved back.

“Is it too much to hope they do get married so I don’t have to worry about her dating?” Gus wondered aloud.

Trevor smiled. “It would be nice. I don’t want to worry about some girl using him.”

“Well, if you two don’t get your wish, let’s hope for something more practical and they remain best friends and look out for each other. Surely they’ll take care of each other like they do now,” Jayce pointed out.

Gus hoped for that more than anything else. Octie helped bring little Travis out of his shell, as the boy was painfully shy and adorably bashful. And Travis offered her comfort in new situations, like going to school. He was her go-to-guy, hanging on her every word whenever Octie had a new story to tell, or even an old story.

“Uh-oh,” Gus said, watching the kids as they rode away. She could see Travis wobbling. “He’s going down.”

Travis lost control of his bike after hitting a crack in the sidewalk. He certainly did go down. Thankfully, he had on a helmet and pads. Octie came to a halt before her friend even hit the ground and went to his side as soon as she could. Trevor and Gus jogged over to the accident scene.

“You okay, bud?” Trevor inquired, crouching down by Travis.

Travis gritted his teeth. “Fine,” he replied, clutching his elbow.

“You sure? You don’t have to suck it up,” Trevor assured his son.

Travis waved his father off. Gus chuckled and knocked on the boy’s helmet. Travis laughed and pushed her hand away.

“This is a tough guy,” Gus declared and she meant that. Despite his shy nature, Travis could take a lot of punishment and he did not back away from it. Octie might have had a little something to with his daring personality, but his ability to take a licking and keep on ticking was all him.

“Is my bike okay?” Travis asked, climbing to his feet. Octie stayed close to him, eyeing him up and down, as if to make sure he was uninjured.

Trevor picked up the bike. “It looks fine, which makes it that much stronger than your last bike.” He leaned over to Gus to stage-whisper, “I can see this kid is going to cost me a fortune just in replacing bikes.”

Gus laughed because it was probably true. Since learning how to ride a bike, Travis had already gone through two of them. His first one, he rode into a car. To this day, they were not sure if he did it on purpose or not. He managed to make it out of that unscathed, but the bike did not survive. His second bike, he had ridden down a flight of stairs and then crashed into a tree. That one got him a trip to the hospital and he got stitches in a gash on his knee along with a concussion. Thankfully, Octie was not so hard on her bike, but that could have been because she still had training wheels.

The children rode their bicycles for almost an hour before Trevor and Travis had to leave, going to help Travis grandparents, who were moving in nearby. Octie was not ready to go in yet. Turning to her papa, Octie grinned and gave Gus’ big puppy eyes.

“Can we take the training wheels off and practice?” the child requested.

“As soon as your mommy goes in,” Gus answered.

“I’m going. The emperor needs to be put down for his nap,” Jayce informed them. Gus-Gus was asleep.

Jayce could not stomach watching Octie learning to ride a bike. She just could not handle seeing their little girl fall. Jayce’s anxiety made Octie feel apprehensive, so it was best that she left, so Octie could concentrate on what she wanted to do.

“Okay, so let’s get to it,” Gus stated as her wife and their son disappeared into the house. She moved to take the training wheels off of the bicycle.

“Yes! I’m gonna get good like Travis and we’re gonna ride all over the place,” Octie declared.

Gus raised an eyebrow. “Like where?”

“Like the park, and store, and China!”

Gus could not help smiling at that answer.  _Kids are so cute_. “All the way to China, huh?”

“Yeah, I seen pictures and lots of people in China ride bikes. Me and Travis can ride, too,” Octie explained completely innocent.

Gus chuckled. “Travis and I,” she corrected.

“Yeah, Travis and I. Travis and I could ride in China. You can come too, Papa.”

“I’d like that, princess.” She loved it when Octie included her in things, even imaginary things.

Once the training wheels were off and lying on the front lawn, Octie mounted her bike again and they were off. Gus held the bike up and steady while Octie peddled. After a while, she let go and Octie wobbled, but managed to stay up for a couple of seconds before she went down. She hissed in pain, but was ready to ride again once Gus was by her side. They kept this up and each shaky trip got longer and longer until Octie rode past their house on her own. They both cheered.

“Go ahead, baby!” Gus threw her fist up.

“I’m riding, Papa,” Octie crowed with joy and then she lost control of the bike.

Gus barely had time to gasp as she watched the little girl go down. Octie put her hands out, trying to brace herself for the fall, but it did not help. She hit the sidewalk hard and her bike fell on top of her. Gus sprinted over to Octie in time to hear the child cry out in pain. Octie tried to sit up, but the bicycle was in her way. Gus wasted no time flinging the bike off of her child.

“You okay, Princess?” Gus asked, crouching down by Octie.

Octie grinned. “You seen me ride?”

Gus breathed a sigh of relief and then chuckled. “Yes, baby, I saw you ride. Want to try again?”

“Yes!”

Octie was on her bike in no time, as if she had not fallen. She went down several times, but riding the bicycle a little longer with each try. With each fall, Gus knew she would be in more and more trouble. By the time Jayce called them in for lunch, Gus could already hear the lecture in her head about their daughter’s injuries as well as her outfit.

“Mommy, I rode the bike!” Octie announced soon as they entered the house.

“That’s good for you,” Jayce cooed as she stepped out of the kitchen to talk to Octie face to face. As soon as she laid eyes on the child, she looked like she had swallowed a bug. Dark eyes shot immediately to Gus.

Gus chuckled nervously. “She had fun.”

“She looks like you tossed her out of a car,” Jayce replied.

Gus shrugged. “She fell a few times.”

“Look at this boo-boo!” Octie proudly displayed her elbow, showing where her skin was scrapped up. There were still bits of gravel in the wound.

“Oh, my god!” Jayce grabbed the child up and rushed off to the bathroom. Octie giggled along the way.

Gus shook her head. She doubted Jayce would ever catch on that Octie did those things just to mess with her. Octie was well aware that her mommy did not handle wounds well; her children’s wounds anyway. Jayce could not even watch them get shots at the doctor.

“Baby, you want me to take care of it?” Gus asked, making her way to the bathroom. Octie sat on the toilet with the seat down, wincing as Jayce applied antiseptic. Gus gave the child a look, reminding her that she brought this on herself for teasing her mommy.

“You’ve done enough,” Jayce huffed.

Gus smiled, even though her wife was very upset. She stood there and waited for Jayce to be done. Once Octie was germ-free and bandaged, on her elbow and knee, Jayce directed the child to get her lunch. Jayce was about to walk off, but Gus grabbed her around the waist and kissed her neck as an apology.

“No, I’m mad at you,” Jayce complained, trying to escape Gus’ embrace. She was not trying very hard.

“You’re not mad at me. You’re mad the princess got hurt, but she’s not even really hurt. The pride in riding her bike overshadowed any and all pain she went through today,” Gus tried to assure her wife.

“She’s such a little daredevil.”

Gus turned her mouth up. “I don’t know about that. She just wants to do normal things. Kids get cuts and scraps and stuff. It’s part of being a kid. It’s not like she climbed onto the roof of the house or anything.”

Jayce’s eyes went wide. “Please, don’t mention that in front of her.”

“Baby, even if I did, she wouldn’t do it. Now, Travis, on the other hand, gotta watch what you say around him.”

Jayce scoffed. “Travis?”

“Oh, yeah! It’s always the quiet ones you gotta watch.”

Jayce laughed and Gus knew she was out of trouble. She kissed the side of Jayce’s head and they went to join Octie for lunch. There were grilled cheese sandwiches with french fries to be had. Gus practically swallowed the sandwich. She worked up an appetite whenever she did something with the kids.

“Mommy, can I go in the backyard?” Octie asked when she was done with her food.

“If your papa is going to watch you, yes, you can,” Jayce answered.

Shiny dark eyes turned to Gus, who had to laugh. She nodded and Octie hopped down from her seat. She put her plate and glass in the sink before rushing out the backdoor with Gus following.

The backyard hosted a beautiful, color garden that Jayce tended with the help of their neighbor, Helena. There was also a little playhouse where Octie spent her time, usually with Travis and whatever toys they had. She went straight for the house and Gus flopped down into her lawn chair. Not too long after that, Jayce came out and put Gus-Gus down. He walked away, looking to get into things, but he found his toy trucks before he messed up anything. Jayce settled in next to Gus. Gus wrapped her arms around Jayce.

“You know, this is like a dream. Every day with you and the kids is like some beautiful dream,” Gus said.

“Even when the emperor strips in the middle of the park?” Jayce teased.

Gus chuckled. “Then it turns into a bit of a nightmare, but thankfully I don’t have to deal with that often.”

A small, amused smile settled on Jayce’s face. “I suppose since you have to deal with riding bikes and trying to throw, I can handle the unexpected nudity. But, you are the one who has to teach him how to drive.”

Gus scoffed. “I’d rather that then being the one who has to talk to them about the birds and the bees.”

“We are doing that together, so you don’t even think you can weasel your way out of it.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

They turned their attention to the kids, especially Gus-Gus, who had thrown his trucks away and was already trying to figure out how to get out of his pants. Honestly, Gus preferred he run around naked in their backyard than on playground, but it would be best if he could just keep his clothes on. But, still, she would not trade any of this in for the whole world. This was perfection.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Quentin is back.


	4. Plans and execution

4: Plans and execution

Jayce fought off a smile as Helena let loose a sinful sigh as she settled into Gus’ lawn chair. Helena was obviously glad to be off of her feet. Jayce could understand. It was no easy task being pregnant when it was hot. Even though it was September, the summer heat lingered.

Jayce released Gus-Gus into the backyard. He made a break for a small tent set up on the lawn. Jayce sat down in the chair next to Helena and watched him, waiting to see what he would do.

“Why do you have a tent in your yard?” Helena inquired with an arched eyebrow. They watched Gus-Gus disappear into the tent.

“What a silly question,” Jayce teased.

Helena rolled her eyes. “Oh, yes, how could I ever be so stupid as to not figure it out? Seriously, why a tent?”

“Gus made it with Octie and Gus-Gus on Sunday. Once they were done, I made s’mores and Gus told them ghost stories and scared Octie to the point where she’s been in our bed the past couple of nights,” Jayce explained.

Helena chuckled. “I swear, between her and Trevor, these kids don’t stand a chance.” She rubbed her swollen belly.

Jayce smiled. “While sometimes, yes, they do things with the kids that I find annoying, I know when the kids get older, they’ll look back on these days and know they had a great childhood. I wish my father was as interested in me as Gus and Trevor are in our kids.”

Another laugh escaped Helena. “How would Gus look at you if she knew you compared her to your father?”

“My poor Gus. Did I tell you how she went to Octie’s class picnic and the teacher didn’t know what to make of her since Octie always calls her ‘papa’? The teacher was expecting a man.”

Helena shook her head and smiled. “Do you think she’ll ever call Gus ‘Mom’?”

“I think when she gains more understanding of what ‘papa’ means. To her, it’s still just a way to differentiate between me and Gus. I kind of want her to hold onto that innocence for as long as possible. Gus doesn’t mind being called papa.”

“I know. It’s cute.”

Jayce laughed. “I think she’d be more insulted to know you think she’s cute.”

Helena laughed. “I can’t help but think it. She’s cute.”

“You’ve come a long way from thinking she was trying to steal Trevor,” Jayce remarked with a teasing smile. Movement from the tent caught her attention and she watched Gus-Gus crawl out. He was missing his shirt, but he had another one underneath it. When that one went missing, then she would have a problem.

“Well, I know you both a lot better now and I would testify in court that you’re both completely and utterly gay,” Helena joked.

Jayce almost guffawed, but managed to control herself. “Yes, we’re lost causes.”

“Yeah, so no threat there. Speaking of the two of you, isn’t your anniversary coming up?”

“Yes, in a little less than two months. I actually wanted to go through some ideas with you. It’s been four years that we’ve been married. Gus was married before and it lasted four years. I want to do something grand to let her know we’re going to last a lot longer than that.”

Helena laughed. “Grand? How grand can you be with two kids?”

Jayce smiled. “Yes, I guess I am asking for quite a bit. I think their aunt might be willing to take them. I know you’re not going to take them.”

This got a good laugh out of Helena. “I’m about to burst with this one. I’m not taking on your nudist and the energizer bunny.”

Jayce had a feeling that would be Helena’s reaction. She was about to pop, after all. She would not put that on her neighbors anyway. She had a couple of options.

“I was thinking we could take the kids with us,” Jayce commented.

“Take the kids with you? Seriously?” Helena arched an eyebrow, giving her a sidelong look. Her face scrunched up a little, showing distaste to the idea.

“You don’t approve?”

“What kind of anniversary would you have if you had those two with you?” Helena demanded.

Jayce grinned. “A good one. We love the kids.”

“Yes, I know, but you shouldn’t go on a trip for your anniversary with your kids. It certainly can’t be this grand affair you’d like with them there. What can you do with the kids, except a bunch of kid-stuff? You guys should get to do grown-up stuff, especially if you want this to be a special anniversary. You want to show her that this is going to last much longer than her first marriage, then you need to do something special,” Helena pointed out.

Jayce groaned because that made sense. Before she could reply, she had to tend to Gus-Gus. Somehow, he managed to get out of both shirts and was now kicking off his pants. Jayce sighed as she grabbed him up and redressed him. He giggled the whole way and ran back into the tent when he was done. Jayce just went back to her seat.

“You wanna take _that_ on vacation and tell me again how it’ll be special?” Helena asked with a teasing smile.

Jayce buried her face in her hands. “It’ll be a family vacation.”

“Yeah, which is not a sexy look for an anniversary. So, what’s the other option?”

“Jannie.”

Helena rubbed her chin. “Would she be able to handle the two of them? I mean, you and Gus barely handle them and there’s two of you. I know she can do it when there’s one of you around, but alone and for more than a day?”

“Yeah, but she’s used to them. I mean, well…” Jayce snorted, needing to get her thoughts together. Jannie was really her only option. She was not a fan of this and she doubted Jannie would go for it unless she explained the whole point thoroughly. Jannie usually only took the kids for a day and she was usually wiped out from the one day. “I think Octie would behave for her. And Jannie laughs off the naked thing with Gus-Gus.”

“She laughs it off?” Helena was incredulously. She had watched Gus-Gus enough to know when he stripped it was hardly a joke.

“She’s used to naked thanks to the spa, so she just laughs it off. I don’t think it occurs to her that someone could take it the wrong way. I’m not going to burst her bubble about it, either,” Jayce commented.

“She’ll be in a rude awakening if someone comes up to her in the park when he’s all buck-naked.”

Jayce waved her concern off. “Jannie will just tell them off.”

“Well, you can leave them with her if she’ll take them. If not, what then?”

“I’ll just have to plan small if no one will take the kids. I think we can do something good in one night. Would you take the kids if it was only one day?” Jayce inquired. Maybe she could get them to take the kids for one day and Jannie another, so she and Gus could at least spend two days together. If not, she would have to ask friends and she did not want to bother them since almost none of them had kids.

“One day, I suppose. You really should ask Trevor. He’d be doing the heavy lifting there. Of course, he might not. My parents are going to be moving close to here just to help with our two, so Trevor has time to work. But, ask. I doubt he’ll turn you down if he knows it’s for a good cause.”

Jayce nodded. “I suppose.”

“So, where do you plan to go?”

“I want to take a cruise with her. I think it would be nice to see a few places… or not see a few places,” Jayce replied with a smirk.

Helena chuckled. “I think that would be the purpose of a romantic cruise. I should’ve done that with Trevor before the second kid.” She rubbed her belly.

“Yeah, as you can see it’s hard to plan with two kids.”

“Why didn’t you mention this before encouraging me to go along with this crazy plan to have another kid?” Helena joked.

“I didn’t know how much you wanted to go on a cruise,” Jayce remarked.

Helena smiled. “Right now, I’d really just like a morning where I don’t throw up. I didn’t throw up nearly this much when I was pregnant with Travis. I don’t know what this boy is doing to me. He owes me so much when he finally gets out of here.”

Jayce chuckled. “I felt like that about Gus Junior over there and all he does is get naked.”

Another teasing smirk appeared on Helena’s face. “I wonder if he inherited that from the original.” 

Jayce guffawed, enough to catch her son’s attention. Gus-Gus stared at her. He gave her a grin and she had to smile back. He went back to playing in the tent.

“So, a cruise. To where?” Helena inquired.

“I don’t know. Does it really matter? After all, you pointed out the whole trip would be for _not_ seeing the sights.” 

A smirk crept onto Helena’s face. “That’s good thinking. Definitely the way to go for a romantic anniversary trip. Now, you just need stash the kids and buy the tickets.”

Jayce chuckled. She needed to do quite a bit, but at least she had an idea now. She would rather think of places Gus would like to see or places she would like to see with Gus. She was not married to the idea of a cruise, but it seemed like it could be nice. There might be something else they could do.

“Do you think you could dig a little for me and find out…”

“Gus’s plans for your anniversary?” Helena guessed.

“If you would. I don’t want to do something that conflicts with her plans.”

“I will put Trevor on it. He’ll have fun teasing her. I’ll poke at her a little, too.”

“Thanks.”

-8-8-8-8-

Gus left work early to meet up with Jayce and the kids at the park. She thought it would be a nice to surprise them and, of course, she would love it, too. But, she was surprised by the sight of her wife sitting exceptionally close with a woman. They were laughing about something and the woman touched Jayce’s forearm.

Inhaling, Gus tried to quell the many emotions that suddenly flared in her chest. There was anger immediately, but then fear. Fear of losing Jayce. It was possible Jayce was not interested in her anymore for whatever reason. It had happened once before. _Is Jayce cheating? Is she going to leave me?_ A lump formed in her throat.

Jayce turned and noticed her. A bright smile lit up Jayce’s face and Gus did not know what to make of it. It did not seem like Jayce was busted doing anything naughty. _Is it just all in my head?_ Gus smiled back before she came across as being weird. _Or is she just trying to cover her tail?_ Gus walked over and leaned down, kissing her wife as a greeting and staking her claim. Jayce did not seem to mind the show of affection and ownership.

“Hey, love, what are you doing here?” Jayce asked with a smile, moving over for Gus to sit. Unfortunately, it left Jayce in the middle, next to this woman who at least took her hand off of Jayce.

Gus smiled. “I wanted to surprise you and the kids.” Leaning down, she rubbed Gus-Gus’s head. He rested on Jayce’s lap, looking very close to falling asleep until he noticed her.

“Papa!” the toddler grinned and jumped up, fully awake and alert now. Gus smiled and leaned down to kiss his forehead.

“This is a pleasant surprise. Octie is going to flip as soon as she notices you. I have Travis with me, too,” Jayce reported, nodding toward the playground. The pair was walking up the slides.

“I’m surprised you let them do that,” Gus commented while the baby slid off of Jayce’s lap. He pulled out some action figures from his stroller and then climbed right back into his mommy’s lap.

“It’s that or they’ve figure out how to climb on top of the monkey bars and walk across like it’s a bridge. It’s one thing or another with them. This one I can deal with a lot better than the other one.” Gus chuckled, knowing either one probably made Jayce’s heart speed up.

“And there goes Eddie,” the woman next to Jayce sighed, shaking her head. “Excuse me, Jayce. Let me get that boy before he cracks his head open.”

Jayce nodded and her “friend” charged off toward the playground. Gus watched to see which kid was her Eddie. It turned out he was a tiny thing, chasing after Travis and Octie. So, maybe the woman was just a park friend.

“It’s nice that some of the moms have warmed up to you,” Gus commented. The parents of Octie’s classmates were one thing, but the parents in the park had always looked at Jayce a little tilted. They both assumed it was because Jayce was seen there with Trevor almost as much as she was seen there with Gus while at the school that never happened. At the school, she was either with Gus or alone.

“Yeah, I guess now that some of them know that you can’t catch lesbian or that I’m not trying to hit on them, they’re all right. Of course, Tina there is the only one who will casually touch me, so maybe they do think lesbianism is contagious,” Jayce remarked.

Gus had to consciously not breathe a sigh of relief. _I’m just being paranoid. I know how uncomfortable a lot of these people are with a same-sex couple. I shouldn’t just immediately think someone is hitting on Jayce or that Jayce is unhappy with me_. In that moment, Jayce reached over and took her hand. She squeezed and smiled down at her wife.

“So, how did you end up with Travis?” Gus asked curiously.

“Trevor is in the middle of writing and it’s not like I didn’t have to go up to the school anyway, so I picked him up.” She pulled Gus-Gus close to her because he almost leaned forward right out of her lap and would have certainly landed head first if not for her actions.

Gus nodded. It happened from time to time, Jayce having Travis. The only reason it did not happen more often was because Jayce valued the alone time with Octie and Trevor liked to have “bro time” with Travis after school. Gus looked out to see what the pair was getting up to, discovering they were playing around in the barrels by the slides.

“I hope this continues even when Helena’s parents are close by. I know they’re going to help with the new baby, but I like having Travis around. He makes Octie so happy,” Jayce said.

“And she makes him a little crazy,” Gus remarked.

“Not crazy, just daring. And, yes, it drives me crazy, but they’re such good friends. I want them to stay like that,” Jayce said.

Gus chuckled. “Well, they do live right next door to each other.”

This got a smile out of Jayce. “Yes, I suppose they do.”

“Want to go out for ice cream or something once she’s buried through all of her energy?” Gus asked. Jayce gave her a sidelong glance and Gus laughed. “Okay, when she’s just sick of being at the park?”

“Ice cream sounds nice, but small ones. I don’t want her to ruin her dinner.” They did not have to worry about Gus-Gus ruining his dinner since he would eat whatever they put in front of him, even if it was not food.

Gus smiled and nodded. She plucked Gus-Gus from Jayce’s lap, scooping him up like a little doll. He turned to her, grinning. She tickled his stomach, stood up, and trotted off to play with the other kids, even though he could not do nearly as much as they could. Gus-Gus giggled and gaffed as Gus walked the baby through the attractions at the park.

While playing with the kids, Gus glanced over at Jayce a few times. She was once again talking to Tina. Tina laughed at something Jayce said and her hand touched Jayce’s arm once more. Gus tried not to think of it. It was probably nothing. They were just “mom-friends” or something like that. It was nothing to be worried about.

After an hour, Gus-Gus was worn out and Octie and Travis were ready to move onto their next activity. Gus loaded everyone in her car with Jayce’s help. They went for ice cream and then home. Gus helped Octie and Travis with their homework while Jayce called Trevor.

“He’s hoping we can keep Travis until dinner. I said it was no problem. Is that all right with you?” Jayce asked.

“That is no problem. We’re good,” Gus answered, keeping Gus-Gus occupied with her tablet.

Jayce smiled. Gus went back to work and before long dinner was ready. Gus looked around and consciously decided that she liked this. She liked her family. She liked her wife. She would do anything to keep this family together.

“Hey, Jay bird,” Gus said as they slipped out Octie’s room, quietly closing the door. The little girl was knocked out at her usual bedtime.

“Yes, love?” Jayce replied.

Gus took her hand and led her to their room. “Life is good, isn’t it?”

“Life is definitely good.”

Gus chuckled and pulled Jayce down on the bed with her. Jayce giggled as Gus pulled her close and tickled her a little. Jayce laughed and wiggled away. Gus pulled her back and held her close. Jayce snuggled into her.

“You make this life good,” Jayce whispered.

Gus smiled. _I was so stupid for thinking she’d look at someone else_. “You make this life good.” _She makes life this good and hopefully always will. I have to make sure she knows I appreciate her_.

Jayce smiled. “So, it’s agreed. We’ll ditch the kids first thing tomorrow morning.”

Gus burst out laughing. “They’d figure out a way to follow us back home anyway!”

“They would, wouldn’t they? Making it worse, Gus-Gus would do it naked.”

“Very, very naked. You know when I went to check on him in bed, he was out of his clothes.”

Jayce slapped herself in the forehead. “How in the hell does he do it? I’m going to start duct taping him into his clothes.”

“It’s just a phase. Octie went through it.”

“Octie only refused clothes! She didn’t strip every time we took our eyes off of her,” Jayce reminded her.

Gus laughed as she remembered the many times their daughter bolted out of the bathroom after a bath, not wanting her pajamas on. “Remember when she asked us why she had to wear clothes?”

Groaning, Jayce hid her face in Gus’ neck. “Please, don’t remind me of that. Do you know our daughter actually said to me ‘sometimes you and Papa don’t wear clothes’?”

Gus laughed even more. “Oh, wow. I’m glad I didn’t get that.”

“I’m sure my head almost exploded from how much I blushed.”

Gus smiled and then sighed. Inhaling her wife’s scent, she drifted off to sleep. She was not sure how long her little nap was, but Jayce eventually woke her up for a shower and then they went to bed. Gus held Jayce tight in her sleep.

-8-8-8-8-

Jayce groaned and charged after her wandering son, as he waddled across the park walkway while somehow getting his shirt open. Giggling like the madman he was, Gus-Gus moved as fast as he little bow-legs could carry him. Jayce huffed and caught up to the little nudist before he could do a strip tease for the entire park. Grabbing him up and smiling at his laughter, she looked up to see what Octie was doing.

Her heart practically jumped into her throat when she saw Octie stood next to some man in a hoodie. Jayce clutched her baby to her and charged over to her other baby. She would be damned if someone was just going to walk off with her kid right in front of her! Not to mention, Gus would definitely kill her if she lost Octie.

“Hey!” Jayce barked.

Both Octie and the man jumped. As soon as Octie realized what was going on, she took off for Jayce. Jayce kept her eye on Octie until she was in her arms before she turned her attention to the man. Her jaw would have hit the ground if it were physically possible.

“Quentin?” Jayce gasped.

“Hey, Jayce,” her brother said with a small smile. His front tooth was missing and his face was pockmarked. His complexion was ashen and his cheeks were hollow. Seeing him in person was worse and so much harder than seeing him on the school video. Her heart clenched in her chest.

“Mommy, this man keep says he’s my daddy, but he’s a stranger,” Octie cried, hiding behind Jayce’s legs.

“I know, baby. I know.” Jayce rubbed her daughter’s head. “Go play on the playground while I talk to this stranger and makes sure he doesn’t scare you again.” Octie shook her head, eyes trained on Quentin. “It’ll be all right, princess. I promise.”

Octie shook her head again. Jayce rubbed the girl’s head once more and then leaned down just enough to pat her on the butt. Octie pouted, but she thankfully trotted off. Jayce kept a tight hold on Gus-Gus. She was about to address her brother, but one of the “park” dads trotted over to her.

“Hey, Jayce, is everything cool?” the park dad asked.

“Yes, everything’s fine. Did someone already call the police?” Jayce countered.

“Yeah.”

“Thanks. It’s nice to know everyone here is ready to do something if they think they’re witnessing a child abduction.”

“Yes. I would’ve come over sooner, but it looks like you know him. I just want to be sure.”

Jayce nodded. “Thank you. I do know him. It’s fine.”

There was a nod and then she was alone again with her brother. Her brother whom she had not seen in nearly five years. Her brother whom took it upon himself to reintroduce himself to Octie as her daddy. Not even her father, but her daddy. _The nerve of him. What is he thinking?_

“Maybe we should sit and talk, Q,” Jayce proposed, nodding toward the bench she had occupied before Gus-Gus decided to do his naked-marathon.

Quentin nodded. They sat on the bench and Jayce placed Gus-Gus in his stroller. He struggled and was unhappy to be trapped in the chair, but she needed to be able to focus on her brother.

“Q, what the hell, man? Are you stalking Octie?” Jayce inquired. It was the only way to explain how he knew she would be here.

Quentin blinked and his face scrunched up. “Who?”

“My daughter. Octavia.” Jayce pointed to the child in question, who was not playing anymore. Instead, she stood by the slides, watching Jayce and Quentin.

Realization dawned on his face as his eyes, which had spots in them and were more yellow than white, went wide and he nodded. “Oh, right. You changed her name.”

Jayce frowned. “No, we gave her a real name.”

“Princess is a real name. It’s pretty.”

“Octavia is a pretty name with meaning behind it,” Jayce argued. “Now, why are you here?” _And why the hell do you look so bad?_ This was very much the worse she had ever seen… and smelled him. She wondered what happened in their time apart.

“Can’t a man see his daughter?”

“You had a year to see her and you weren’t interested. Why should you want to see her now?” Jayce demanded.

“Maybe I’ve realized my mistakes.”

Jayce wanted nothing more than to believe that. He sat up strong and he said it with such confidence. It made her feel kind of warm inside, like she would get her brother back eventually and Octie could finally know him. It would be nice. Her children could have an uncle.

“Okay, so you’ve realized your mistakes, but why did you approach her like that? You’ve scared her twice. You almost gave her teacher a nervous breakdown,” Jayce stated. _Not to mention me_.

“I just wanted to see her,” he replied with a sigh.

“Well, there are much better ways to go about it. Asking me and Gus are at the top of that list. We thought someone was trying to kidnap her before,” Jayce pointed out.

Shaking his head, he rubbed his forehead, showing his ashy, cracked hands. His nails were almost black and his fingertips were the same. She did not understand how he could have a coherent thought, realize his mistakes, but still look like a stereotype. Actually, worse than a stereotype.

“I’m sorry. I just wanted to see her so badly,” Quentin stated.

“Yeah, but now you’ve scared the crap out of her,” Jayce said. “She probably doesn’t want to be around you now.”

“I want to see her. I miss Princess.”

Jayce frowned and shook her head. “Her name is Octavia. What do you miss about her? You neglected her for a year. You don’t even know anything about her and even if you did know, you’d know a baby, which she isn’t anymore.”

“I know now that I was wrong for that.”

Jayce nodded so hard that her head felt like it might pop off. “Yeah, you were.”

“Look, I just want to see her,” he said, his voice cracking. He looked in Jayce’s eyes. They shared the same dark gaze, inherited from their father, passed onto Octavia. His eyes glistened and Jayce felt her throat tighten.

“I’m happy you’re ready to see her. But, again, you have to understand that there are right ways to go about this.”

“I know, I know, I know. Like I said, I just wanted to see her so bad. I’ve already missed so much time and I just felt like I didn’t want to miss another minute.”

Jayce’s brow furrowed as she scowled. “So, you couldn’t come talk to me? Instead, you come up to her at school and in the park? Don’t you realize how bad that must look to her?” Not to mention how bad it looked to her and the rest of the outside world.

“I didn’t think you’d talk to me.”

Jayce was about to dig deeper into that line of questioning, but they were interrupted. The police had arrived and came up to them. Jayce was able to explanation the situation pretty swiftly and send the police on their way, but they looked skeptical at Quentin for a long time. She could understand why. She sat back down next to him once they were alone again.

“You’ve made the whole park nervous,” she pointed out, noticing the stares they got from the other parents around.

“I didn’t mean to,” he countered.

“You didn’t mean to do a lot of things.”

Quentin nodded. “I know. I’ve already admitted that I made mistakes and I’m trying to correct them. Can’t you see that?”

She truly did want to see that. She had wanted her brother back basically since the death of their father over a decade ago. He claimed some years ago that it was not the death of their father that turned him to drugs, but she still believed him to be a liar. Maybe that was not his excuse now, but it had definitely put him on the course. Hopefully, he was finally over that and now trying to get his life back together, even though he did not look the part.

“I’ve heard this song a lot of times, Q,” she reminded him.

“I know, but this time I mean it,” he stated with begging eyes. “I just want to know my daughter and my sister.” He took her hand and she had to resist the urge to pull back. She would wash her hands before she touched anything, especially one of the children.

Jayce’s heart fluttered at that declaration. Was he telling the truth? Had he finally gotten himself together? Was he ready to part of their family? She hoped. She hoped against hope and she felt like a fool. But, what if he was telling the truth and she turned her back on him? Her mind whirled and her stomach flipped. She wanted to believe so badly.

Digging into her purse, she found her wallet and pulled out her business card. “Here, my number on this. You can call and set up a meeting,” Jayce informed her.

Quentin laughed. “Set up a meeting? Is there a board involved? She’s right there, Jayce.” He motioned to Octie, who was still standing by the slides, watching to whole exchange.

“She is,” Jayce said. She just was not sure if she should let him properly meet Octie, especially without her wife around.

“So, can I just say hi?” he requested.

Jayce sighed. “She’s already scared of you.”

“I know, but I want to change that. Let me just say hi, so she can see I’m not some big scary monster. You haven’t told her anything bad about me or something, right?”

Jayce gasped, insulted he would even suggest such a thing. “Of course not.”

“Okay, so I can say hi and she can see I’m not the scary monster she thought I was when I messed up the first two times, right?” he pointed out.

Taking a deep breath, Jayce exhaled through her nose. “I suppose.” Octie was right there, as was Quentin.

“Please,” Quentin said, hands clenched together.

Jayce’s stomach twisted, even as her heart sunk from his puppy-dog look. She waved Octie over. The child wasted no time coming, but she made sure to hide behind Jayce. Quentin leaned forward and Octie hid as much as possible, using the bench and part of her brother’s stroller to do so.

“Octie, baby, this is Mommy’s brother, Quentin,” Jayce introduced the child.

Octie frowned. “He said daddy.” She spat the words like an accusation.

“I know he did, but this is my brother.”

“Can we go home?” Octie practically demanded, glaring at Quentin.

“Of course we can,” Jayce answered and then she offered her brother an apologetic look. “It’s about time for us to leave anyway.”

Quentin nodded. “I understand.” Quentin offered his hand to Octie. “Maybe we can be friends.”

The child looked at his hand and shook her head. Tugging on Jayce’s sleeve, Octie stuck out her lip, wanting to go. Jayce had no desire to torment or torture her daughter. Sighing, she bade her brother farewell and walked off with her children. For some reason that she could not explain, she checked to make sure her brother was not following them. He was not.

As soon as they entered the house, Octie charged off, heading right for her room. Jayce was not sure what to make of that since Octie had never done it before. She was not sure what to make of the whole afternoon. Everything seemed crazy and a blur and all mashed together and she did not know what to do.

Jayce worked on autopilot. She did not even hear Gus come in. Barely noticed her wife all night, which she would pay for once they put the kids to bed. She sat in their room, wondering how she would approach the subject of her brother with her wife, but Gus beat her to the punch, slamming the door shut as she entered their bedroom.

“So, are you going to tell me about today?” Gus demanded, standing in front of Jayce.

“Today?” Jayce blinked. “Oh, right. Q somehow found us in the park.”

Gus scowled and threw her hands up. “And when the hell were you gonna tell me about it?”

“I… I…” Jayce was not sure how to answer the question. She should have said something earlier and they should have been able to have a civil conversation about it.

“You what? You didn’t think it was important to tell me your drug-addled brother somehow found you guys in the park, by yourselves? Shit, Jayce, I had to hear about it from one of the parents that was there. For a second, I thought he kidnapped all of you from the way they told me.”

“Sweetheart, I’m sorry. I was just in shock. I mean, I didn’t expect him to be there and then next thing I know, I look up and there he is, talking to Octie.”

Gus snorted through her nose, almost like a charging bull. “He approached her again? Did he try to run off with her?”

“No, he just wanted her to know he’s there.”

“But, he’s not and he doesn’t have the right or even the privilege to approach her.”

“He just wanted her to know her father.”

“I’m her father!” Gus screamed in the moment and let loose another frustrated grunt. She pinched the bridge of her nose. “You know what I mean. She’s my daughter, Jayce.”

“Yes, she is, baby. You’re totally right about that. I’m sorry.”

“Is that what you told her? You told her that’s her father?” Gus huffed.

Jayce jumped up. “No, I’d never say that. I told her that he was my brother.”

Gus’ hazel gaze narrowed. “You introduced her to him?”

“They were right there.”

“Why the hell would you do that? You don’t want her to get comfortable around him. Next thing you know, she’ll get in a car with him because he’s good old ‘Uncle Q’ and he’ll drive off with her and we’ll never see her again.”

“She wouldn’t get in a car with him,” Jayce argued.

“Not now, no, but if he keeps popping up, maybe. He’s not ‘scary stranger’ anymore in her head. He’s ‘Mommy’s brother.’ Don’t you get how that changes things?” Gus inquired.

Jayce rubbed her face. “I don’t want her to be afraid of my brother.”

“But, she should be afraid because God only knows what he’s up to.”

“He said he realized he made mistakes and he just wanted to fix those mistakes.”

Gus put her hands over her face for a second and sighed. “Jayce, please, I know you want to believe your brother is okay, but history has proven that he’s not. Who knows what the hell he means by mistakes. Maybe he thinks it’s a mistake that he let her go and now again he’s waiting for her to get comfortable around her, so he can walk off with her. And, making it worse, the whole park saw you sit with this guy, so if they see Octie walk off with him, they won’t think anything of it.”

“He’s not going to kidnap her. He’s trying to right his mistakes, not make more.”

“Or he’s trying to con you,” Gus pointed out.

“He’s not.”

“Really? Is this the same woman that thought her brother _sold_ us our daughter?” Gus threw her hands up again.

Jayce went rigid. _Oh, god_. That had been her thought when Quentin signed away his parental rights to Octie and before he even put the pen down he asked her for money. Maybe this was some new scheme and she had just been stupid enough to make it easier for him. Dashing into their en suite bathroom, she vomited into the toilet. Gus was behind her moments later, rubbing her back.

“It’s okay, Jay bird,” Gus whispered.

“No, it’s not,” Jayce replied before coughing.

Gus cooed to her and kept massaging her back. After spitting in the toilet and flushing, she rose to her feet and used the mouthwash. Gus remained by her side and the second she was done rinsing her mouth, Gus embraced her.

“I put Octie in danger,” Jayce muttered into Gus’ shoulder.

“No, no, no. She’s not in danger.”

“What if he takes her and gives her to Marion?” Jayce hiccuped as her guts knotted at the thought.

Gus scoffed. “Then we find them. You know she never beats us. We just have to be careful with Quentin. You can’t take what he says at face value. I know you want to, but you have to remember he’s sick and he might say or do anything if it helps him get more drugs.”

“I just… I just…” Jayce was not even sure what she wanted to say, so she clung to Gus as she always did when she felt lost. “Why isn’t he better? Why doesn’t he ever get better? I want him to be better.”

“Maybe he is.”

“You’re talking me down now?” Jayce laughed at the ridiculousness of it all.

“It’s my job. I just need you to think of both sides. You shouldn’t be overly optimistic, but you shouldn’t feel complete despair over it, though. I will tell you, I don’t like that you introduced him to Octie without me there or without my input.”

“I’m so sorry. I was going to. I wanted him to call us and we could set up something, which I know would’ve been better. But, he just kept saying how he made mistakes and he wanted to set things right and he wouldn’t agree with it.”

Gus cradled Jayce’s head. “He pressured you after playing on your sympathies. It’ll be all right.”

Jayce hoped her wife was right. A knock on the bathroom door disturbed the scene and caused them to turn. Octie stood there with her hair sticking out of the ponytail Jayce put it into. She clutched a small dragon plush toy like a lifeline.

“You okay, princess?” Gus asked.

“I had a bad dream, Papa,” Octie answered, coming in for a hug. She wrapped her arms around Gus’ legs.

Gus reached down and patted the child’s back. “You wanna tell me about it?” Octie shook her head and sniffled. “Aw, come on, princess, you can tell me. It’ll be okay.”

Octie sniffled again. “A big, scary monster ate you. It ate you and I cried for you, Papa, but you didn’t come back.”

“Well, I’m here, sweetheart. I’m here.”

“Can I… May I…?”

“Of course you can sleep in here, princess. Come on, let’s all go to bed.” Gus locked eyes with Jayce, who smiled and felt slightly better when Gus smiled back.

They all settled into bed with Octie in the middle. Octie snuggled into Gus, needing to feel her papa against her to be sure that the monster did not get Gus. Jayce wondered if meeting Quentin had traumatized Octie to the point of having the nightmare, even though it was a nightmare that Octie had from time to time. But, she usually had the nightmare if Gus had to go on a business trip and was gone overnight.

Jayce reached over their daughter and found Gus’ hand. She relaxed when Gus took her hand and squeezed. This was a hiccup, not a break up.

“You are her other parent, sweetheart. You’re her mother, even if she calls you papa,” Jayce said in a whisper. She knew it was probably was not the best thing to say with Octie sleeping in between them, but it needed to be said. She did not want Gus to think for a moment that she considered anyone else Octie’s second parent.

“But, he is not her father in any sense of the word,” Gus replied.

“No, which is why I told her he was my brother because that’s what he is. For the moment, to make it easier, we’ll say you’re her father because he certainly isn’t that. You are her parent. You are and you always will be.” Jayce clutched Gus’ hand tightly.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Gus meets with Quentin.


	5. Drifting

5: Drifting

Gus made sure Jayce understood they were all right the morning after the incident with Quentin. Of course, she was not comfortable with him stalking their daughter and a little bothered by Jayce introducing him to their daughter, but she was more concerned with him than with Jayce. After last night, she was sure Jayce would be more careful with Octie and less likely to be taken in by Quentin if he was trying to con them. Gus needed to find out about his intentions and if he was somehow working for or with his mother.

The morning went as usual with pancakes for breakfast. They were plain, but it was good enough for the family of pancake connoisseurs. Octie managed to sleep through Jayce getting out of the bed, but not when Gus tried to get up. Octie clung to her papa, almost as if trying to keep Gus in the bed. Gus smiled and rubbed Octie’s back.

“Come on, my little princess. Mommy made pancakes and it’s Friday,” Gus pointed out.

“Pancakes!” Octie grinned, which turned into a yawn as she covered her mouth with her hand. She sat up, hair wild and eyes struggling to stay open.

Gus smiled and leaned down, kissing her daughter’s head. “You’re too much.”

Octie gave her a wide grin. “I’m glad you’re okay, Papa. It’s best when you’re around.”

Gus scratched her eyebrow with her pinkie. “What do you mean?”

“Because everybody’s happy when you’re around. And Mommy likes it best when you’re around.”

Gus chuckled. “I’m glad you think that. It’s best when I’m with all of you, too.”

Octie giggled as she jumped off the bed and charged off to her room to get dressed. Gus felt pretty good, despite last night. So, when everything was done and she was supposed to be out the door with Octie, she paused for a moment. She pulled Jayce to her and it was such a surprise that her wife gasped.

“It’s okay. We’re okay,” Gus whispered, cradling Jayce’s head with one hand and holding her tightly with her other arm around Jayce’s waist.

Jayce latched onto Gus. “Still, I’m sorry. I won’t let this happen again.”

“I trust you, okay? You need to know that. I trust you.”

Jayce nodded and sighed. Gus kissed the side of Jayce’s head. Not surprised, tiny arms wrapped around their legs. They laughed and looked down, seeing Octie embracing them. They both wasted no time bending down and wrapping the little girl in a tight hug.

“We love you!” Jayce grinned, planting a bunch of kisses on Octie’s cheeks.

“Ew, Mommy! Stop!” Octie tried to escape, but her mothers had her.

They laughed and then Gus-Gus came to his sister’s aid. The toddler jumped on Gus, essentially knocking into her knees. Snickering, Gus went down and Jayce turned her attention to the toddler, who was completely naked. A loud groan escaped Jayce.

“Gus-Gus, where are you clothes!” Jayce threw her hands up.

Gus and Octie laughed while Jayce scooped him up in her arms. Giving each a quick kiss goodbye, Jayce went to hunt for their son’s clothes and Gus exited with Octie to take her to school.

“You got everything?” Gus asked as she buckled Octie into the backseat.

“Yup.” Octie nodded.

Gus smiled and shut the door. She packed up Octie’s book bag with her every night, but she still liked to check and make sure. She slid into the driver’s seat and they were off for the short drive to school. For the trip, Gus played music from a playlist Jayce customized for Octie. Octie always sang along with each song, thoroughly enjoying them.

“How are you feeling today, baby?” Gus asked. Octie seemed all right, but she liked having Octie talk about what was going on inside of her. She and Jayce wanted their children to get into the habit of talking to them about everything.

“I’m good,” Octie replied, as if she did not even recall having a nightmare last night or that she had to sleep with her mothers.

“You want to talk about anything?”

Octie twisted her mouth up. “I met Mommy’s brother.”

“I know. She told me,” Gus replied, forcing a smile since the child was watching her through the rear view mirror.

She did not want Octie to assume she did not like Quentin, even though she definitely was not the man’s biggest fan. Octie frowned. Apparently, Gus was not alone in her dislike of the man.

“Is something wrong?” Gus asked.

“He was scary. His face looked like a monster,” Octie admitted.

Gus hated how relieved that made her. This meant Octie was less likely to walk off with the man should he show up again out of the blue. But, it also meant that if he really was trying to be part of her life, it would be that much harder for them to connect. While Quentin did not deserve Octie, the girl should have as many loving and positive people in her life as possible, especially from the person partially responsible for her creation.

“Is he gonna be around like Auntie Jannie?” Octie asked, glancing down at her dangling feet.

“Why do you ask?”

“Because Auntie Jannie is your sister and she comes around a lot. I don’t want him to come around a lot.”

Gus blinked at how blunt she was. “What? Why not?” Briefly, she wondered if Octie did not like her aunt coming around, too, but she doubted that.

“Because he’s scary and he smells funny and he says weird stuff and I don’t like him,” she explained. “So, make him not come around, okay, Papa?”

“I’ll do what I can to fix the situation,” Gus promised. If Quentin really was trying to fix things and maybe get better, then she would try to get Octie prepared to see him. If he was doing something more nefarious, she would stop him.

“Okay. Um… don’t tell Mommy I don’t like her brother. I wouldn’t like it if somebody told me they didn’t like my brother.”

Gus chuckled. “You got it, princess. It’s between you and me.”

Octie grinned. “Like when you buy Mommy presents.” Octie was her partner in crime when it came to shopping for Jayce because Octie liked being included and she liked at the least being a part of giving a gift and at most to finding a gift of her own for Jayce.

She winked at the child. “Yeah, just like that, so you don’t say anything and I won’t say anything.”

Octie giggled, but that was as good as her giving her word. They pulled up to the school not too long after that. Usually, Gus let the kid go with a kiss and an “I love you,” but they needed to have a longer talk than that for the moment.

“Octie, baby, make sure you wait for Mommy to come pick you up, okay?” Gus said as the child unbuckled her seatbelt herself. Gus helped her out of the seat.

Octie looked at her like she was crazy. “I know. I always wait for Mommy.”

“Good and make sure you wait by your teacher or with Travis, okay?”

“Yup!” Octie saluted.

Gus smiled and kissed Octie on the cheek. “I love you, kiddo.”

“I love you, too, Papa.” Octie waved as she charged off for the school door. Gus watched her disappear inside before getting back into the car.

Gus smiled and drove off. Since her phone was synced with her car, the moment she came to a red light, she made a call. She needed to speak with the private investigator that was supposed to be finding Quentin for them.

“Hello?” a deep, but distinctly female voice answered the call.

“Yeah, hi, Miss Fralynn. It’s Gus Tucker.”

“Oh, hey. I was going to call you and check in with you today.”

“Well, I beat you to it. The man I wanted you to find surprised my wife and kids yesterday on the playground. I need to know what he’s up to and I need to know where to find him. I need to talk to him to make sure he knows he can’t just stalk them like that.”

“Well, I haven’t really pinned down an address for him. He stayed in a shelter for two days, but then after that stayed in an abandoned house. There were other people in and out of the place. It didn’t look too good, didn’t look like he was living there or anything. Probably just squatting, but he wasn’t there yesterday.”

Gus frowned because that did not sound like Quentin was trying to get his act together. “Do you know where he is then?”

“He doesn’t really have any routines for me to give you a good guess. I usually have to start my search all over for him each day.”

Gus groaned as she pulled up to another red light. Usually catching red lights annoyed her, like most people, but right now she could hardly be bothered to notice. “Are you going out to look for him today?”

“Yeah, in a little while. I’m getting evidence about his drug use.”

Gus groaned even deeper. “So, he is still doing drugs?” This was one of the things she and Jayce wanted the private investigator to look into beyond just finding Quentin.

“If you believe the pictures I have, yeah.”

Turning on her signal, Gus made a left turn, trying to keep her mind in the right place. She did not want to have to tell Jayce her brother was still on drugs, even though they suspected from his appearance. “On your way to look for him, could you stop by my office and give me what you’ve collected already?”

“Yeah, what’s your office address?”

Gus gave the investigator the address and they ended the call. She pulled up to her office not long after and parked her car. Her business was located in a large office building with dozens of other businesses inside. It was her and ten other employees, all of whom wore a lot of different hats for the company. The floor space was large enough for all of the employees to have desks and still be able to move around. They had their idea board, samples of their software, and other items around, all neatly placed. Gus had her office at the back of the space in the corner. There were a couple of other small offices next to it.

“Hey, Gus,” Paki, one of her employees, greeted her. He sat at his desk, which was closest to the double doors that led to the office. He had his feet kicked up, even though he knew she hated that. He tossed a baseball back and forth from each hand, a habit that helped him think.

“Hey, Paki. I thought we were shaving, man. You’re about to be able to braid your beard,” Gus commented, tugging on his growing fuzz.

He only chuckled and amusement shined in his dark brown eyes. His beard was getting out of control. Oddly enough, he did not have the same problem with the top of his head. His hair was cropped short. He really should have just gone with being bald. She was not sure what he was going for with his beard. Thankfully, he dressed professionally, going so far as to wear a tie every day. Gus rarely dressed as professionally as he did, but he always said it was the least he could do for putting his feet on the desk.

“Nobody else is here, yet?” Gus asked, looking around at the empty tables. It was shocking for Paki to beat everyone in.

He shook his head. “Beau called and said he’ll be late. His car is totally dead.”

She rolled her eyes. This was not surprising. “We’ve been telling him that for, like, four months.”

Paki shrugged. “I guess his car finally proved us right. But, I still don’t get what he expected from a car that’s probably older than a Model T.”

Gus chuckled. “I think his car was probably the first car ever made.”

The remark earned an amused smile from Paki as he tossed his baseball in the air a couple of times. “Layla should be on her way.”

That news was expected. “Is Dave still sick?”

His eyes went wide, as if he had first hand knowledge as to how sick Dave was. “Yeah, and with the way he was coughing on Will when I was over their house the other night, I’m willing to bet Will won’t be in next week.”

Gus shook her head. “Only Dave. What is wrong with him?”

Paki laughed. “I don’t think there’s enough hours in the day for me to explain that one.”

She shrugged and scratched her eyebrow with her pinkie. “Yeah, you’re right about that. So, what are you up to?”

“Trying to figure out how to get rid of that stupid glitch. I might have to leave it for Layla because I don’t know how the hell we bungled this up. Honestly, I think Dave messed this up, probably while the fever was boiling his brain.”

“Well, if you guys like getting pay checks, someone needs to figure it out,” she teased with a smirk.

He laughed again. “Isn’t that why you make the big bucks?”

She nodded. “I’ll take a look at it when I get a minute. For now, I’ve got to make sure the orders are right and everything. I need to see the development on the other game, too.”

“Layla.”

“You can’t leave everything to Layla.”

Paki rolled his eyes. “Uh… totally doing it right now.”

Gus chuckled as she went to her office. Paki liked to pretend he left everything to Layla, but the truth was he just worked best when having someone to brainstorm with. Layla was always up to work with him. Gus was always happy when her employees got along, but those two did it the best.

Barely a half-hour later, Dee Fralynn, showed up. She went right to Gus’ office and sat down. She had to finish up a phone call, but made it quick. Standing up and leaning over the desk, she shook Dee’s hand. Dee was a tough looking woman, somewhat thick, and older with a brown hair cut short.

“Please, take a seat,” Gus offered, motioning to the chair in front of her.

“Thanks. Busy little place you have here,” she commented, glancing out of the glass between her office and the main office. She had the vertical blinds open, which she shut when she needed privacy. She did not bother with it right now.

Her employees were mostly working… and arguing with each other. Paki had clearly done something to set Layla off because the petite blonde was breathing down his neck and scowling at him. Will had managed to make it in, but there was sweat on his forehead and they had the AC going, so she assumed he would end up going home early. At least, he was trying to get some work done while at death’s door. Beau had not made it yet, but he called and it sounded like he was beating his car with a pipe while explaining he had to wait for a tow. Everyone else was there and thankfully minding their manners and doing actual work.

“We’re doing our best around here,” Gus replied with a shrug. They did fairly well for a small operation and she would like to keep it small for as long as possible.

“That’s good. So, I brought the file I managed to compose on Quentin so far.” Dee yanked a folder from her briefcase. “I’m not sure what I have so far. The first couple of days I followed him, he stayed in a shelter, he ate at a soup kitchen, and he seemed like a guy that was just down on his luck. But, not so much anymore.”

“What now?”

“Well, now, he’s staying in places like this,” Dee replied and pulled out a photo. She slid it across the desk to her.

Gus’ mouth fell open. “Is this a crack house?”

“I don’t know if I’d call it that, but it’s definitely not a Holiday Inn.”

“I don’t need the jokes right now. Do you not understand? This man has approached my daughter twice. Is he or is he not staying in a crack house?”

“I don’t think he’s staying there, as much as doing drugs there.” Dee slid a group of photos across the desk. “From what I could tell, I think he’s on crack or crystal meth.”

Gus scowled as she saw the top picture, which was very clearly a drug deal. She got her first real look at Quentin Newton, sitting on some rundown steps with a clear pipe to his dried, chapped lips. She did not want or need to see any more and handed them back to Dee.

Gus’ head started to hurt from how tense her face was and how tight her frown was. “How’s he paying for that stuff if he stayed in a shelter?”

Dee shook her head. “I don’t know that yet. I looked into his money as much as I could and from what I could tell, he’s broke.” She slid a couple more papers to Gus.

Gus nodded and studied the new items. “Has he been doing drugs every day since?”

“No, not every day, but he has been hanging around that place most days.” 

“Were you following him yesterday when he went to the park?”

Dee shook her head. “I didn’t follow him all day.”

“Well, if you follow him today, you call me and you tell me where he is. I need to speak with him.” 

Dee nodded. “Are you sure that’s necessary? You could just go to the cops and get a restraining order against him to keep him away from your family. I doubt there’s a judge in the world that would see these pictures and think it was okay to just let him near you.”

Gus rubbed her chin. “I want to see if I can get through to him before things come to that.”

“If you think you can,” Dee said.

“I should try. So, just give me a call when it looks like he’s settled some place.”

“If I can.”

An eyebrow went up. “What do you mean by that?” she asked, trying not to feel insulted.

“Well, if he’s somewhere like this.” Dee held up the picture of the drug den. “Then there’s no way I’m calling you. You could be in danger in some place like this.”

Gus frowned. “You think I give a shit about that? I need to make sure my family is safe. This man has gone to my daughter’s school. He’s shown up at the park my family daily frequents. I don’t want to see where he ends up next because if it’s at my front door, I might kill him.”

“Don’t be too hasty.”

“If you thought your family was in danger, what would you do?”

Sighing, Dee nodded. “Fine.”

“And, if you could, just try to follow him around the time school lets out at 2:30. I just need to make sure he’s not by the park again.”

Dee nodded once more. They rose to their feet and shook hands. Gus walked Dee to her door, but she showed herself out of the main office. Gus turned her attention to Layla, needing to calm her down before she sent Paki to the hospital, more than likely because he would die laughing from Layla threatening him.

“Guys, I hope you fixed the glitch before you turned this into a kindergarten,” Gus remarked with a half-smile. The sound of her voice caught Layla’s attention.

“How can we fix anything with this idiot being an idiot?” Layla huffed, throwing her hands out to Paki.

“Layla, go pick Laura’s brain about the glitch while I talk to Paki about something else,” Gus suggested. This was just to get Layla away from him. As soon as the feisty blond walked off, Gus glared at Paki, who grinned. “Oh, grow up.”

“Says the woman who lies to get Layla to calm down,” Paki commented. Gus rolled her eyes and walked off.

-8-8-8-8-

Gus thought a frown might be stuck on her face after the day while marching into a small park area. She sat down on a bench, next to a man in a mangy sweat hood. She could smell him, even though they were in the open air. Shaking her head, she wondered what his game was.

“Quentin Newton?”

He jumped and turned to face her. “Who are you and how do you know me?”

Even though it was no surprise he did not know who she was, considering the fact that she did not know what he looked like until this morning, his question still upset her. He had come into their lives, trying to upend everything, and bothered her daughter and he did not even know who she was. _Doesn’t he know he’s trying to ruin a family? Or doesn’t he care? Or is he just like his mother and homophobic?_ She doubted it was the latter because Jayce never mentioned him being homophobic. He was a lot of things, but he did not seem like the type according to Jayce’s tales.

“I’m Gus Tucker,” she introduced herself. The blank look in his eyes made her shake her head. “Your sister’s wife.” _I dislike him all the more now_.

His eyes went wide. “Oh!” He chuckled a bit. “So, was the little boy with her your kid?”

“What little boy?” Gus inquired. She feared he might have seen her family today and maybe Jayce had Travis with her. If not that, then he meant Gus-Gus, who thankfully was not traumatized by his appearance in the park. But, she did not want him to even think about Gus-Gus.

“The little baby. Is that one yours?”

Gus frowned. “They’re both mine. This is my family.” _Does he seriously think Octie is his? What the hell is wrong with him?_

“Well, yeah, but did you, like, carry the kid?”

“What does it matter?” she asked, wondering where he was going with this line of questioning.

He shook his head. “I guess it doesn’t. You know, if you say it’s your kid, then I guess that’s how it works or whatever.”

“It’s not whatever. This is my family,” Gus stated. “I don’t know if you understand that or not, but this is my family. Octie is my daughter.”

Quentin’s face shrugged up. “Octie?”

 _Is he really this fucking clueless?_ “Look, let’s cut the chase. Why are you coming around my family?” she demanded, doing her best to not glare at him. She did not want to get him riled up or he might do something against her kids, but it was very difficult.

“Huh?”

“You stalked my little girl at school and in the park.”

His eyes went wide. “Oh, you mean Princess!”

Gus growled. _Someone this stupid has to be dangerous, if not to my family, then to himself_. “Her name is Octavia and you’d know that if you were ever around her. Now, what are you trying to do? I’ve got this pegged down to two possibilities. You’re probably broke at the moment and your mother will only help you if you harass Jayce and try to get Octavia back. Or, you’re broke and you’re trying to con Jayce into giving you money by acting like you suddenly give a damn about Octie.”

“Hey, I do give a damn about her,” he barked, leaning forward a bit to give her a proper glare.

She arched an eyebrow, calling his bluff right now. “The greatest thing you ever did for, the most responsible thing you ever did was let her go and allow Jayce to adopt her. I’m not inclined to believe _that_ man suddenly wants to introduce himself as ‘daddy’ to the little girl he hasn’t seen in roughly six years and he almost killed.”

Sighing, Quentin put his head down. “I was in a pretty messed up place back then.”

“Oh, and you’re not anymore?” She would call bullshit on him if she had to. She thought his best moment was when he sighed away his rights to Octie. She doubted he would be able to top that in his current condition.

“I’m getting it together.”

And, apparently, she would have to call bullshit. “Don’t fucking lie to me. You’re full of shit if you think you’re ‘getting it together.’”

He puffed out his chest. “You don’t know me!”

“I know you’re still doing the same bullshit you were doing six years ago. Now, I presented you with two reasons for why you’re suddenly here. Which one is it,” she demanded.

“It’s neither. I’m here on my own. I’m just trying to get to know my kid and get to know my sister again.”

Gus frowned. “She’s not your kid. You don’t even know her name. You don’t know anything about her and even though I know you know you scared the living daylights out of her twice, you probably intent to keep bothering her. And, let’s be serious, you’re not really thinking about your sister.”

He reeled back and frowned at her. “Why the hell would you say that?”

Rolling her eyes, she waved the question off. “Because if you were, you’d be done with the drugs and shit. Do you know how disappointed and heartbroken she’s going to be when she finds out you’re still heavily using? Do you know how much you hurt her every time you do that? I mean, seriously?”

Quentin looked down at his feet. Gus suspected some of the guy that Jayce had grown to love would always live in Quentin, somewhere under the addict. She wished that guy would claw his way back to the surface. Jayce would love nothing more than to see him again.

“You know, she loves you so much,” Gus said.

He looked up. “Who?”

“Jayce.”

“I love her, too.”

“She told me a lot about you, when you guys were growing up. You’re her hero, man. She still remembers you beating the monster in her closet to death,” she informed him with a smile.

He chuckled and a smile settled on his pockmarked face. “You know she really believed I did that until she was, like, fourteen.”

“She’s been waiting for you to come clean for over ten years. If you did that, it would top you killing that monster in the closet,” she pointed out.

“I’m not ready.”

And she frowned again. She remembered when Jayce told her how he signed away his parental rights and in the same breath let her know he was not ready to get clean. If signing away his daughter was not rock bottom and earning his sister’s respect back was not rock bottom, she doubted there was anything on Earth that would get him to come clean.

“When are you going to be ready? What the hell is rock bottom? When you’re dead?” she demanded.

“You don’t get to tell me my business,” he countered. “You don’t know what the fuck I’m going through,” he added with a growl, pointing at her.

“I know what the fuck you’re putting people through, though. You’re scaring my kid and probably trying to con my wife. I don’t give a shit about your problems, but stay the fuck away from my family while you’re working through your shit,” Gus ordered, climbing to her feet.

He hopped up. “Hey, it’s my sister and daughter—”

“She is my daughter!” Gus pointed to herself. “My daughter! Just because you came in some chick doesn’t make you a parent. What the hell do you know about my little girl beyond a name that’s not even hers anymore? Stay away from them.” She gave him a stern, burning glare and pointed to him. “You stay the hell away from them.”

“You can’t make me.”

“If you want me to call the police, I will. You don’t want to tell me what you want, you’re on drugs, and you tried to take my kid from school. If I find out about you around my family again and you’re not off this shit, you won’t like it,” she promised him and turned on her heel, leaving him to think about it.

Gus glanced back to make sure he was not following her. Quentin watched her walk away, but he did not move. Scowling, she made it back to her car. It was parked around the corner because she did not want him to see what she drove. She hated having to think like that, so she could imagine what this would do to Jayce. Driving off, Gus wondered what her next move should be. It did not seem like he could be reasoned with.

-8-8-8-8-

Gus came home to find Jayce pacing between the living room and the kitchen on the phone. Jayce stopped and her eyes went wide the second she noticed Gus. Instead of coming in for a kiss as a greeting, Jayce turned around and disappeared into the dining room, continuing to speak on her phone. Gus thought that was weird, but shook it away in favor of greeting her babies.

“Hey, there guys,” Gus said as she stepped into the living room.

“Papa,” both children shouted with glee. Of course Gus-Gus was naked, so Jayce had been on the phone for at least a couple of minutes.

“Little boy, what do you have against clothes?” Gus wondered aloud as she snatched him up. He merely grinned proudly.

Gus-Gus’ antics were so normal to the house that Octie did not even seem to notice. Gus turned her attention to her daughter as she ate her snack. Gus-Gus probably finished his snack considering all the crumbs around his mouth.

“How’s it going, baby?” Gus asked Octie, leaning down to kiss her forehead. “You have fun at the park?”

Octie shook her head. “I didn’t wanna go to the park today.”

Gus’ brow furrowed. “No? Why not?” Even though she could guess.

Octie sighed in an exaggerated manner, but it still seemed too adult for Gus’ liking. “I just didn’t feel like it.”

“You know you can tell Papa if something’s bothering you, right?”

“I know, Papa. I was just… I just got scared _he_ was gonna be there.”

Gus frowned a bit. “You shouldn’t let someone keep you from one of your favorite places just because you’re scared. It means they win and I know you don’t like losing.”

Octie shook her head. “I’m the best, so I should win.”

Gus grinned. “Well, you can’t win unless what?”

“Unless I do my best!”

“And that includes getting over stuff that scares you.”

Octie nodded, motioning for her mother to lean down. “But, he’s big and scary and smelly,” she whispered into Gus’ ear.

“I hate to break it to you, princess, but life is going to be full of big, scary, smelly people. If you don’t do your best, they win.”

Octie frowned. “But, I’m the best, so I should win.”

“Well, how do you win?”

“I have to do my best and get over stuff that scares me,” Octie declared with a powerful nod.

Gus chuckled and kissed Octie’s head again. “That you do. Now, I have to put clothes on your brother. Possibly using glue.”

Octie snickered and Gus left to get the little Houdini into some clothes. On her way to the stairs, she glanced into the kitchen and tried to see into the whole dining room. She could see a piece of Jayce, who still seemed to be on the phone. She spoke low and looked like she jotted something down.

Gus shook her head and remembered what she was supposed to be doing, which definitely was not spying on Jayce. Besides, Gus-Gus began to squirm, trying to escape. She held him tighter, which upset him.

“Mommy!” Gus-Gus called and he squealed at the top of his lungs.

“Do you really think Mommy’s gonna save you from being put in clothes?” Gus asked. Yes, Jayce saved him from a lot of other things, but he had to know this was never going to be one of those things.

Gus-Gus pouted. “Maybe.”

Gus chuckled as she hustled the boy upstairs and put him into a tank top and shorts. This proved to be a mistake as he was trying to take the tank top off while she was trying to put the shorts on. She could see why Jayce entertained thoughts of duct taping him into his outfits.

Gus wagged her finger in the boy’s face. “Listen to me, little emperor, if you take these things off again, you will not see another cookie until you can vote.”

“Cookie?” Gus-Gus smiled and put his hand out.

Gus laughed and lightly tapped his hand down. “No, no cookies until you learn to keep at least your pants on, mister.”

Gus-Gus pouted. “Cookie?”

“Nope.”

“Papa, cookie.”

“Yeah, you’re not going to have one ever again until you keep your clothes on. No more cookies.”

Gus-Gus’ whole face dropped. “No cookie?” His voice trembled like this was the worse thing in the world.

“No.”

And, apparently, this was how to ruin a toddler’s entire day. Gus-Gus fell out on the floor. Gus picked him up and went back to the living room. Jayce was still out of sight. Gus put their son down and decided to see what was going on with her wife. Jayce was still on the phone and had a small notepad, which she rushed to put in her pocket the second she noticed Gus.

“Give me one second, sweetheart,” Jayce said to Gus as she hurried off of the phone. She then turned to Gus for an extremely delayed greeting, giving her a hug and a kiss.

“That was a long phone call,” Gus noted.

Jayce laughed. “Just a client having a crisis.”

“And this is why having business hours are important,” Gus remarked, even though she felt like she might not be getting the whole truth. Jayce had never walked away from her when a client called. She definitely did not move out of view.

“Maybe I should look into that for me and my very short list of clients, which I feel would get even shorter if I did,” Jayce replied with a smile.

Gus had to force out a smile. Jayce was not being honest with her, she was sure of it. _Maybe I can get things started_.

“I spoke to your brother today,” Gus said.

“You spoke to Q? Where? Is he following you now?” Jayce inquired.

“No, no, no. I had the private investigator tell me where he was.”

“And you went to see him without me?” Jayce’s body tensed.

Gus stepped back. “Why are you upset about that?”

“Because did you not just scold me for talking to him without you? What the hell, Gus? I thought we were in this together.”

Gus scowled. “You wanted to be there so you could see how bad off he is again?”

“Oh, so you were looking out for me?” Dark eyes rolled.

“Yes, you and our family. I don’t want him scaring our daughter anymore. You know he’s the reason she didn’t want to go to the park today, right?” Gus huffed.

“I had a feeling that was the case, but the point is, you shouldn’t have seen him without me,” Jayce argued.

“You introduced him to our daughter.”

“He was right there.”

“Well, I told him to not be ‘right there’ until he gets his crap together.”

Jayce threw her hands up. “This should’ve been a talk we had together with him. Octie might want to know him one day.”

“Yeah, well, today won’t be the day. It won’t be the day until he gets his act together. Why do you want her around him now? You know what kind of state he’s in and you want to bring Octie around him? You want to tell Octie that’s her father?” Gus demanded, eyebrows knitted together as she glared at her wife. 

Jayce frowned and then took a deep breath. “We’ll talk about this later. Right now, I need to start dinner and you have a meeting with some homework.”

Gus opened her mouth, ready to continue arguing, but remembered the kids were hardly ten feet away. This was no place to have an argument. She went to help Octie with her homework and saw evidence that the kids heard because Octie was unusually quiet for their whole “meeting.”

“Come on, princess, tell Papa what’s wrong.” Gus put an arm around the child. Gus-Gus was thankfully still occupied with his “homework,” which involved tracing letters on Gus’ tablet.

Octie frowned. “You’re mad at Mommy.”

“I’m not mad. We’re just not communicating well right now.”

“You can commun-cate better now?” Octie asked.

“We’ll do our best. But, I need you to know we’re not mad at each other and we’re not mad at you or your brother, okay?”

Octie nodded and perked up a bit. She finished her homework and Gus helped her pack her book bag. Gus-Gus rushed Gus when he was finished with his work and she heaped praises on his ability, even though his handwriting left a lot to be desired. Of course, he was only a toddler.

The parents put their discussion on hold until the end of the night. They made sure the kids were asleep and closed the door. Gus paced the room while Jayce sat on the edge of the bed.

“Gus, I need you to understand, I don’t want Q to be a parent to Octie. She’s going to ask about her biological father one day and I’m not going to lie to her. It would be nice for him to be in the picture, so she can get her own idea of him.” Jayce gripped the covers tightly.

Gus sighed and ran her hands through her hair. “I shouldn’t have seen him without you, but I have to protect you. I know how you are with your brother. You can see he’s not getting better, but you’re still holding out hope. As long as he’s standing in front of you, you’re going to hold onto something that’s not there.”

A tight frown settled on Jayce’s face. “You don’t get to make that decision for me, though.”

Gus growled, pausing to just stare at her wife. “It wasn’t just for you and you don’t have this problem when I’m chasing your damn mother away.”

Jayce sat up straighter and frowned. “So, that’s it? You have to protect me from my horrible family?”

“I didn’t say that. But, you’re acting like I did something wrong by telling your brother to stay away from you and Octie. I mean, do you really want him around our daughter while he’s still doing drugs?” Gus demanded, stepping closer to Jayce. She did not want to fight over this. She needed Jayce to understand she did the best she could.

Jayce turned her head, looking away from Gus. “I’m not going to let him spend time alone with her, but she should at least know he exists.”

“You can tell her about him. She doesn’t have to be around him to know about him.” Gus huffed, flinging her hand out.

Jayce put her head down and massaged her temples. “I want her to develop her own opinion of him.”

“She’s six. You know what her opinion is: scary man is scary.” Gus moved to stand right in front of Jayce. “How would you feel if some guy you didn’t know approached you on a playground after trying to pull you out of the schoolyard?”

Jayce sighed and looked up at her wife. “You still shouldn’t have seen him without me.”

Sighing, Gus nodded slightly. “I wanted to protect you. When you’re not pissed off at him, it feels like you go too easy on him. Plus, I said some things to him that I didn’t want you to hear.”

Dark eyes narrowed. “Like what?”

“Like if he kept stalking you and Octie, I’m going to get the police involved,” Gus stated strongly.

Jayce gasped. “Gus!”

Gus leaned down, taking Jayce hands into her own. She needed to feel Jayce and needed Jayce to feel her. She was pleased that Jayce did not pull away. She took a deep breath before speaking.

“Seriously, do you want him around Octie when we’re not around? Do you seriously think he might not be in cahoots with your mom? According to the private investigator, he’s broke. This could be his way of trying to get back on your mom’s good side,” Gus pointed out.

Jayce sighed and pulled away a little. Gus felt disappointment course through her until Jayce began to massage her temples harder and faster. Her shoulders slumped. Sighing once more, Gus eased down next to Jayce and gathered her wife in her arms. She held Jayce tightly, knowing Jayce finally understood how bad things could be.

“From now on, we do this together,” Jayce whispered.

“Yeah, together,” Gus agreed. Of course, it was a little hard to believe they would do anything together since Jayce had lied to her earlier. She felt like she was falling away from Jayce because she did not understand the lie and she did not understand why Jayce was pissed at her for what happened with Quentin, even though this was settled. Her stomach rolled. _I’m sure it’s nothing. Of course, last time I assumed it was nothing, it was a lot of something_. Her sense of dread intensified.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Quentin comes around again and the last person Gus ever wants to see shows up.


	6. Stress squared

6: Stress squared

Jayce had Gus-Gus dressed in a hurry. She was running late because she had to take a phone call minutes before needing to leave to get Octie. Of course by then, Gus-Gus had taken off his clothing. Thankfully, she had been leaving early anyway, so she would get to Octie when school let out, instead of getting there ten to twenty minutes early. Putting Gus-Gus in his stroller, she broke into a jog for the first couple of blocks.

Before she got to the school, she noticed a man in a hoodie crossing the street. She knew automatically it was Quentin. She paused and waited, wanting to see where he would go. She hoped he did not head for the school because if Octie reported seeing him again, she feared Gus might just kill him. Part of her knew she would not care if Gus did, but the other part of her – the part that continued to hope – did not want that to happen. He looked up at her and smiled, moving toward her instead of toward the school.

“Hey, Jayce,” Quentin grinned. She could see he was missing teeth toward the back of his mouth. For some reason, this made her stomach roll.

“Hey, Q. What are you doing around here?” she asked, keeping her distance as much as the sidewalk allowed.

“Waiting for you. I figured we’d go see Princess together.” He glanced down in the stroller. “Hey, little guy.” He reached down to touch Gus-Gus, who never met a stranger he liked anyway, and the baby cried out.

Jayce actually turned the stroller some, just for her brother to get the idea that she did not want him to touch Gus-Gus. She did not know where the man’s hands had been and she did not trust they had been washed in recent times. He looked at her with a furrowed brow, as if he was baffled as to why she would do that.

“He doesn’t like strangers,” she explained in a bland tone. It was true, but she suspected the little emperor sensed something off with her brother. She would not subject her toddler to someone who clearly bothered him.

“Oh.” Quentin smiled a bit, but it seemed like an anxious expression. “Well, I shouldn’t be a stranger. I’m his uncle, right? I mean, he’s yours, right?”

Jayce arched an eyebrow. “Obviously he’s mine.” _Has he seriously smoked his brain away? Does he think I’m just trotting around with someone else’s baby?_

“No, I just thought he might be your… wife’s. Gus is her name, right?”

“He is Gus’. We’re married,” she pointed out.

He waved his hands from side to side, more than necessary to get his point across. “No, no, no, I know, but I’m saying I just thought, like, she carried the kid or something.”

Jayce’s brow wrinkled. “You do realize that doesn't matter, right? It doesn’t matter who carried him. He’s our son.” Both of their kids were _their_ kids.

Shrugging, Quentin laughed. “If you say so. I guess it’s kinda like how Princess is our daughter.”

“No, it’s nothing like that,” Jayce stated with a scowl. Something was wrong with her brother. He was clearly confused. “Q, she’s not your daughter. Her name’s not Princess. Why aren’t you getting that? You signed away your rights. You totally got this when you did that, so why aren’t you getting this now?”

Jayce could not understand why Quentin was acting as if he had never signed a paper to give Octie a better life. She wondered if it was possible he smoked or snorted or whatever it was he did those memories away. She supposed it was possible something happened to cause him to forget, but it was irksome for him to reappear and cause such chaos.

He gave her a boyish half-smile. “Yeah, but you can’t sign away blood.”

“Blood isn’t the only thing that makes family.” Jayce knew that very well.

He scoffed. “You’re sounding like your wife, who threatened to call the cops on me by the way. Just for seeing my kid. What the hell is up with that?”

“Q, she’s not your kid. Why don’t you understand that? You haven’t been in her life for her entire life. She’s not your daughter. You and I aren’t sharing her. She’s my daughter and she’s Gus’ daughter, so that’s why Gus said those things. She had to look out for her daughter.”

He shook his head. “No, no, no. I gave her to you, so, yeah, she’s your daughter. I wanted you to take care of her, but she’s still my daughter.”

Jayce gawked at her brother. Something was seriously wrong with him. Not only had he signed away his parental rights to Octavia, but Gus had done a second parent adoption for her many years ago. Octie had two mommies. Quentin could be in her life, but not as a parent. She was beginning to understand why Gus just wanted him to step back, though. He was delusional or maybe his brain clouded by the drugs.

Whatever the case was, it was not safe for Quentin to be in Octie’s life right now. It might not even be safe for him to be in her life right now, Jayce considered. She was not sure she was ready for him to break her heart again as he had done many times years ago. She was not willing to deal with everything she used. She had a family to worry about now.

“Q, are you high right now?” she asked.

He frowned. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Well, first off, just so you know, most people would deny the accusation rather than wanting to know if it had something to do with anything. But, I ask because you don’t seem to understand. Octie isn’t your daughter. Blood doesn’t trump everything. You signed away your parental rights. I adopted her. Gus adopted her. She’s my daughter with my wife. You should be happy for her. She’s growing up in a stable household with two parents who adore her. She’s got her own room, tons of toys, a backyard to play in. She has parents who help her with her homework, tuck her in at night, read her stories, teach her to cook, watch movies with her, build tents with her in the backyard, and make s’mores with her on the stove. She has a wonderful life. She has the life I’m sure you wanted for her when you signed away your rights. What exactly are you trying to accomplish by showing up and butting in?”

 _Seriously, where the hell does he get off acting like he can suddenly provide for Octie, acting like Gus is irrelevant? Gus has been here for Octie, for me, for us and our family. Gus is Octie’s parent. Why doesn’t he see that? What is he trying to accomplish? Why is he doing this now?_ She thought about how Gus said the private investigator said Quentin was broke. _Maybe this whole thing is about money. Money to keep his precious drugs flowing_.

“I’m just trying to get to know my kid and my sister, but my sister is starting to act like her wife has her brainwashed or something,” Quentin said with a scowl.

“Well, I have a family to look out for and I think it’s a bit suspicious that you’d show up out of the blue like this asking about Octie. Even if you are trying to get to know her, I’m not letting you near her while you’re like this,” Jayce stated.

“Like what?” he demanded, having the nerve to glare at her.

“High. On drugs. Take your pick,” she replied, motioning to him. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go pick up my daughter and I’d prefer you not be there.”

He paused, as if shocked by those words. “What? Jayce, don’t be like that. I want to know the kid.”

“You can’t even remember the kid’s name!” Jayce pointed out.

“Princess!”

Jayce groaned and walked off. Gus-Gus whined and Jayce knew he was upset because of the altercation. She did not want to stop and comfort him right now. She just wanted to get away from her brother. He trotted up behind her.

“Stop following me, Q. I don’t want you around _my_ daughter like this. If you really want to know her, you’ll get clean for her,” Jayce stated.

Quentin growled. “You always try to make it sound so freaking easy.”

“I’m not saying it’s easy, but you have to want it. You don’t see to want it. You think you can have your cake and eat it, too. I can’t have you around my kids like this. I can’t trust you like this. So, stop following me.”

“You can’t make me stop following you.”

“Really, Q? Do you realize how childish you sound? You’re not helping the situation.” _God, how I could I have been so stupid to think he was different or to think things would be different?_ Well, technically, he was different. The last time she had seen him, she thought he had turned a corner. After all, he was coherent and responsible enough to actually give her Octie. Now, he was a crazy man.

“You can’t tell me what to do!”

Jayce blinked. _Why is he acting like this?_ He seemed so composed the other times she met him. Now, he seemed wild. His eyes were wide and feral.

“Q, I think you better stop right now.” Jayce reached into a pocket on the side of the stroller, needing her cell phone. If he did not stop, she was either calling Gus or the police. Maybe both.

“Jayce, she’s my daughter,” he stated through gritted teeth.

“No, she’s not. Stop saying that!” She glared at him, sick of this delusion he seemed content to live under. At the sound of her shouting, Gus-Gus began crying. She growled at her brother. “Do you see what you’re doing? You’re being selfish. You can’t just have everything you want without working for it.”

Quentin looked confused and Jayce tried to rush away from him in that moment. Thankfully, he did not follow. Once she was sure he was gone, she stopped to pick up Gus-Gus with the hope that he would stop crying. She bounced him in her arms while pushing the stroller, needing to get to Octie before she panicked.

“Mommy!” Octie practically flew at her when she arrived at the schoolyard.

“Hey, there, baby,” Jayce smiled as she hugged her daughter.

Octie gripped her tightly. “I got scared because you weren’t out here when I got out.”

“I’m sorry, little bit. I was running late.”

“Because Gus-Gus got naked?”

Jayce laughed, even though she was appalled at how normal Gus-Gus’ nudist activities were. “Partly because Gus-Gus got naked. Ready to go?”

“Yes!”

Octie turned and waved to her teacher as they left. Jayce looked around as they made their way home, needing to make sure Quentin did not pop up out of nowhere. They managed to make it home without any problems.

“You don’t want to go to the park?” Jayce asked Octie.

“Nope. You think Travis can come over? We could play in the backyard.”

“I’ll call.”

-8-8-8-8-

Gus sighed, feeling a headache coming on. Her latest project, a long awaited sequel to a popular game she developed, was delayed thanks to a glitch no one seemed to be able to fix. She messed with it all day and still could not figure out why the game messed up. The phone rang and she was actually thankful for the excuse to stop bothering.

“Hello, Gus Tucker,” she answered.

“Hey, baby. How’s your day going?” Jayce asked.

Gus smiled. “Better now that you’ve called.”

“Well, I’m sorry because I’m going to bring your day down.”

“Did Gus-Gus take all his clothes off while you were in the mall and they took him away?” Gus smiled. It was something Jayce always thought would happen.

“No, but it was almost as bad. On my way to pick up Octie, I ran into Q.”

Gus frowned. “Was he following you?”

“I don’t know. I know he was on a corner when I was walking to the school. You were right. He’s delusional or something. I don’t know what’s wrong with him. He kept saying Octie was his daughter. It was like he totally forgot he signed away his rights. I mean, he acted like it hasn’t been years! I mean, years!” Jayce huffed.

“Calm down, baby. Did he do anything?”

“No, except follow me for a few blocks, but he stopped before we got to the school. Of course, he knows where Octie goes to school, so it doesn't even matter. We have to do something about him. He really thinks Octie is his daughter and he’s acting like you don’t have any say over her. Plus, he was high. He had to be high. It’s the only way to explain how crazy he sounded. I don’t want him to keep coming around her if he’s like this.”

Sighing, Gus scratched her eyebrow with her pinkie. “Okay. How about we both talk to him together? If that doesn’t work, we’ll just have to get a restraining order because who knows what he might be trying to do.”

“I hate that you’re right.”

“I know, sweetheart. He’s your brother and you don’t want to expect the worst. Honestly, you shouldn’t have to.”

“I wish he would just get help. Is that so hard?”

“Well, yeah, it is, but maybe you can tell him about that when we meet with him.”

Jayce sniffled. “I already did. He didn’t sound interested.”

“I’m sorry about that, Jay bird. All you can do is keep trying. It only takes one time to reach him. I’ll call the private investigator to see if she can find your brother one more time. Then, we’ll talk to him, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Now, as much as I love talking to you, I’ve got get back to work, unless you’re no longer interested in being able to feed the kids.”

Jayce chuckled. “They do eat a lot.”

“Noted. So, tomorrow we’re leaving ‘em at the store, right?” Gus joked.

Jayce laughed. “Bye, baby.”

“Bye.”

Gus sighed as she hung up the phone and rubbed her face. Okay, so the day was bad. Now, she had to spend more money looking for Quentin. She could learn to hate that man. Before she could get that out of the way, she was in for more of a bad day. She glanced out of the office, through the glass wall and noticed some commotion by the front of the office space. _What the hell are those guys doing?_ She wondered why her employees were all up.

“We’ve got a glitch to fix. Why the hell are they all at the door like they’re about to make a break for it?” Gus growled, climbing to her feet.

Stepping out of her office, Gus was about to tell her crew off when she saw what all of the commotion was about. Between her people and the door stood the last woman on Earth that Gus wanted to see – her ex-wife. Amanda just as she remembered, glamorous, dressed the nines, with the perfect makeup and not a hair out of place.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Gus demanded, causing everyone to turn around to stare at her.

Amanda had the nerve to smile. It was a bright expression that lit up her beautiful mocha skin. Her eyes sparkled and the overhead lights made her long, straight dark hair shine. She looked almost celestial, glowing right before Gus and all Gus wanted to do was smite her.

“Gus, baby,” Amanda said, gliding through the stunned workers.

“No, no, no, no. No!” Gus waved her arms, nixing this whole matter. She glared at her former spouse. “I don’t care why you’re here. I don’t care what you want. Just no!”

Amanda pouted playfully. “Oh, Gus. Don’t be that way. I’ve missed you.” She put a hand out as if she was about to touch Gus. Gus stepped away.

“No, no, no, and hell no! Bye, Amanda. Just bye.” Gus pointed to the door as she made her way back to her office.

Amanda followed instead of leaving. “Come on, lover. Why are you acting like this?” She closed the office door behind her.

Gus’ jaw dropped. “What do you mean why am I acting like this? Did you forget you slept with half the women of the city while you were married to me? Starting with almost all of our friends,” she shouted.

Amanda tilted her head as if she had no idea what Gus was talking about. She slid into the seat in front of Gus’ desk and crossed her legs at the ankles, showing off gorgeous calves. For a moment, Gus remembered those calves caressing her legs, but she managed to shake it away.

“Gus, I was just young and foolish. I’m sorry if I hurt you,” Amanda said.

Gus’ jaw dropped again and she glared at Amanda. “ _If_ you hurt me? We were married and you were cheating on me. Not once, but dozens of times and in our bed. What the hell do you think you did?”

She batted long lashes and pouted. “Gus, like I said, I was young and foolish. I didn’t realize what I had in you.”

Nostrils flaring, Gus sat down in her seat. “Okay, you know what, let’s cut through the bullshit. You want something from me and whatever the hell it is, you’re not going to get it.”

Amanda smiled daintily as she turned to face Gus. “Love, why are you so hostile? Did I say I want anything?”

“No, but considering the fact that I hadn’t heard from you in six years since you cut into me at the last divorce meeting, I know this isn’t a social call. So, let’s cut through the bullshit. Tell me what you want.”

“Gus, maybe I just want to start over with you. I was wrong and I’m willing to admit that. I’ve missed your friendship over these years and I want to start over with you.”

Gus was unimpressed and she gave Amanda a flat look. “You want to start over? You miss my friendship? You still think I’m an idiot, don’t you?”

“Gus,” Amanda gasped.

“What? Do you really think I’m so pathetic that I’d welcome you back in my life after the Hell you put me through? You were fucking my manager in our bed! You said I was frigid and horrible at making love!” Gus growled, thinking of all of the insults Amanda had thrown her way, leaving almost all of her self-esteem dead in the wake of Hurricane Amanda.

“I just said those things to hurt you because I was hurt that you’d leave me.”

“So, I was supposed to stick around while you ran me into debt and slept with the entire lesbian population of the city?” Gus scoffed.

“I just wanted your attention, Gus. I wanted you to spend some time with me. I didn’t know how to go about getting it, though.”

“It’s called asking,” Gus stated with a frown. Not that she bought Amanda’s excuses. Her ex-wife was just loose and a gold-digger. She had proven that time and time again in the past.

Amanda pouted. “I didn’t know how to ask back then. I was very immature.”

“I see and how six years later you’re so mature?”

“A lot changes in six years.”

Gus nodded. “Yeah, a lot does. But, some things stay the same, like right now, I still have work, just like six years ago.” A lot could change in six years. She had six years with Amanda and six years without. She liked to think she was much happier now, even with some of her current troubles. Amanda had come with her own sets of troubles, though, and Gus did not want any part of them ever again.

Amanda nodded. “You look like you’re doing well for yourself.”

“I am. I hope the same is true for you. Now, I have work to get back to. You can show yourself out,” Gus said, motioning to the door as she turned her attention to documents on her desk.

“Gus,” Amanda pled and she reached out, touching Gus’ hand. Gus pulled back as if she was shot while Amanda gasped. “Is that a wedding band?”

Gus frowned. “Yes.” She really would prefer Amanda not know about her marriage. Amanda was poison and always would be.

“She’s a very lucky woman. How… how long have you been married?” Amanda asked in a low voice.

“Going on four years.” _Four wonderful years. Four lovely, beautiful years with an incredible woman who is the complete opposite of Amanda_.

Amanda nodded. “That’s nice. Almost as long as we were married.”

“Yeah.” _But, Jayce and I will get over this hump and reach other milestones_.

“Does she treat you right?”

“Yes.” _She treats me way better than you, even if she gets upset over things she’s done in return and she’s sneaking phone calls_.

“That’s good.” Amanda swallowed.

“Yeah, it is good. Now, I still have work to do. Goodbye, Amanda.” Her eyes went back to her papers. She wanted this to sound and look like the dismissal it was. If she never saw Amanda again, it would be too soon.

Amanda sighed and pushed herself up from her chair. “Goodbye, Gus.”

Gus did not even bother to look up as Amanda exited the office. As soon as she was out of the place, Gus’ closest employees were at her office door. She sighed.

“It’s all right, guys,” she promised them.

“The hell it is! What did that demon woman want from you?” Layla demanded.

“Yeah!” Paki chimed in.

“It’s all right,” Gus insisted.

“Bullshit! The last time she was here, she tried to rip the company apart. First, she tried sleeping with Layla and convincing her to start her own damn company. When that didn’t work, she tried to take half the place in the divorce. Now, we’re bigger, badder, and she’s back.” Beau threw his hands in the air. If nothing else, they could always count on Beau to two things – make awesome graphics and panic. He was probably best at panicking.

“And she’s not my wife anymore. She can’t try to take half of anything,” Gus pointed out. They had expanded greatly since Amanda left, doing better than ever, but they were not in the same danger. It was not like Amanda could reverse the divorce.

“She can if she gets back together with you,” Paki countered.

“Which isn’t going to happen. Have we all forgotten that I’m happily married? I’m not leaving Jayce and she’s not leaving me, so Amanda is left out of the equation. I’m not as stupid as I used to be. I’m not going to go back to her.”

“Okay, just to make sure. Remember, she tried to sleep with me,” Layla said.

“Yeah, Beau just mentioned that,” Gus said, pointing to him.

“And tried to get me to break up our team. Unforgivable,” Layla stated.

“Yes, it is. I’m not going to go back to Amanda. You guys have all met Jayce. Would I leave her for Amanda? Amanda, who’s hurt me more than any other person on Earth and on purpose?”

“Uh… Amanda’s sexy as fuck. Sometimes, sexy overrides common sense,” Paki reminded her.

Gus chuckled and shook her head. “Not this time. I only have eyes for Jayce. Now, can we all get back to work? There’s still a glitch that needs fixing. Call Dave. Unless he’s on his goddamn deathbed, just repeat the problem to him over and over again. He’ll come up with something just to get you to shut up.”

The trio saluted and left Gus to her work. The headache came as soon as the door shut. She could not deal with Jayce’s brother and now her ex-wife. They needed to fix this thing with Quentin and she just hoped she did not have to see Amanda again.

“And then there’s this fucking glitch,” she growled. If she had to push back the release date of this game, she was going to lose money. While she thought of herself as upper middle class, she could not afford to just lose money with a wife and two kids, even if her wife worked part-time.

-8-8-8-8-

Gus wanted to fall into bed the second she came through the door. She was exhausted. The kids greeted her as usual with cheers and hugs. Jayce was on the phone and stepped out of view again. Gus frowned. _Why is she being so secretive now?_ Her thoughts drifted to Amanda, but she managed to stop them before they went anywhere dangerous. Jayce came out just as the kids backed away.

“Oh, honey, you looked wiped out,” Jayce said, leaning in for a kiss.

“I’ve had better days,” Gus admitted. Feeling Jayce’s lips against hers, even if only for a moment, helped ease some of her tension.

“I’m sorry it’s been rough for you. How about you have your meeting with Octie and I’ll run you a hot bath? Once you get out, dinner will be ready and then you can just go lie in bed,” Jayce proposed.

It sounded like Heaven. “Are you sure? The kids…” Gus hated to leave Jayce to deal with the kids for the rest of the day. They were in this together.

Jayce gave her one more kiss. “I have the kids. Don’t worry.” She smiled.

Gus decided not to argue because she was wiped out. She helped Octie with her homework, which really just involved having Octie explain everything to her. She played a little with Gus-Gus and went upstairs to have a hot bath. Jayce even had music playing for her.

“She takes good care of me,” Gus sighed as she sank into the soothing water and almost vanished under the bubbles. _She takes good care of me because she cares, so I shouldn’t think the worse. She’s not Amanda_.

Still, there was the matter of the phone calls taken in secret. What was that about? Why was Jayce hiding things from her? Hiding things never meant anything good. Instead of letting it fester, she decided to ask Jayce about it. She held off until the children were asleep.

“So… who were you on the phone with earlier?” Gus asked, watching Jayce lotion her legs. They were very nice legs. _Better than Amanda’s_.

Jayce arched an eyebrow. “Oh the phone?”

“When I came in. You stepped into the kitchen to finish it up.” Gus settled in at the head of the bed, eyes still on Jayce.

“Oh…” Jayce shook her head and focused on her knees. “No one important. It was just a business call and you know the kids get loud when you come in. Sometimes, you come in loud.” She shot Gus a teasing smile.

Gus nodded. She was not sure if that was the truth or not. It was plausible and the excuse was valid. But, the idea that Jayce might be lying hung over Gus. They had been together for almost as long as she had been with Amanda. She wondered when Amanda had really started cheating on her. She had only found out that final year, but it was probably much longer than that. Maybe some of Amanda’s complaints were valid.

“You know, we should do something this weekend, just the two of us,” Gus proposed. Amanda claimed she had not spent enough time with her or paid her enough attention. Well, Gus would not make that mistake with Jayce.

Jayce smiled as she finished with the lotion, putting it back on their vanity. “And who is going to watch our Tasmanian devils?”

“Jannie. She can handle them for a weekend.”

Jayce laughed as she sat down on the edge of the bed. “You’re kidding, right? Do you remember when she had them for a day and you want to leave them for a weekend? Gus-Gus threw up for a week.”

“I think Jannie did, too. I don’t understand why she would listen to the dining requests of a three year old. Of course, he’s going to say McDonalds every single time you ask him what he wants to eat.” Gus shook her head. “We can leave her some instructions.”

“How do you instruct someone on how to slow Octie down? We haven’t even figured it out yet.” Jayce grinned.

“We can still try.”

“If you want to, but don’t see her agreeing to two days. I mean, two hours, sure, but two days, never.”

Gus did not reply. She wondered if Jayce was trying to get out of a weekend together or if she had a valid argument. She did not see why Jayce would want to get out of a weekend together unless someone was already filling Jayce’s time. Gus tried to shake that off and she crawled into bed, gathering Jayce up, enjoying the feel of her soft skin.

“Did you call the private detective?” Jayce asked.

“I did. She’ll call me the second he finds Quentin and I’ll call you. Now, back to this weekend.”

Jayce smiled. “If you’re serious, what if we take the kids to the carnival? It might help get Octie back into the mood for the park. I mean, remember how happy she was after our trip to the zoo? I think she’ll love this.”

Gus’ eyebrows knitted in and she scratched the edge of one with her pinkie. “You don’t want to do something without the kids? Just us?”

“I don’t mind the kids and I want to help lift Octie’s spirits. We should do something she’ll like. Hopefully, Gus-Gus won’t get naked during that time.” He had tried when they had gone to the zoo, but she was thankfully able to stop him during each attempt.

Gus chuckled. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. We can have alone time some other time. I’m worried about Octie right now anyway. I’m really sorry I let her meet Q. I mean, yes, he was right there, but I shouldn't have called her over. I should’ve stuck to the plan of handling this together.”

Gus nodded. “We will handle it together.”

“I know. You think maybe you could spend a little more time with her? She’ll talk to you about what’s bothering her.”

“No problem. I’ll go get her from work one day and we can hang out.”

“She’ll like that. Speaking of work, how’s the glitch coming?” Jayce asked, turning to face Gus. She cuddled into Gus’ body.

Gus wasted no time wrapping her arms around Jayce, who tucked her head underneath Gus’ chin. “It’s coming along. I’ve got Dave on it.”

Jayce’s brow furrowed. “Isn’t he sick?”

“And currently cursing my name, but that’s what’s going to get him to solve it. I’ve known Dave since college. If you asked him enough to provide world peace while he was sick, he would go out to do it, so you will leave him the hell alone. Besides, it’s his damn glitch.” Gus rubbed the small of Jayce’s back and inhaled the subtle, but sweet smell of her hair.

Jayce chuckled a bit. “Anything else going on at work?”

Gus paused. “No, nothing else.” She did not see the point in bringing up the fact that Amanda showed up. “I designed a couple of new apps, which I’m hoping to release after we get this game going.”

“That’s good.”

“Do you think I work too much?” Gus asked. It had to seem out of the blue to Jayce, but her wife just smiled.

“Compared to what? You put in eight, sometimes nine hours a day, unless you have a really big project going on. Do you think you work too much?” Jayce turned it around.

Gus frowned. “I should spend more time with you and the kids.”

“We spend plenty of time together. Do you think there are a lot of families where at least one parent always helps with homework? Where they all sit down for a movie every night? Where they eat at the table together every night? Where they try to play board games, even though one of them is only three years old? Where they hug and show affection and truly mean it? Are you okay?” Jayce asked, reaching up to caress Gus’ cheek.

Gus leaned down, pressing her forehead to Jayce’s. They did have a lovely little family with so much family time friends claimed they lived in the wrong time period. _I’m just letting Amanda get to me. There’s nothing wrong here. Jayce and I have a very strong marriage and a very good family_. Gus sighed.

“Everything’s fine. Let’s get some sleep,” Gus replied and she kissed Jayce.

Jayce smirked. “How about we do something better?” Gus did not argue that.

-8-8-8-8-

Jayce was thankful to Trevor for keeping Gus-Gus as she waited for Gus to show up. She climbed into the car and they drove to a diner in silence. Butterflies gathered in Jayce’s stomach for the whole ride. When Gus parked, Jayce had to take a deep breath.

“It’s all right,” Gus said, taking Jayce’s hand. She gave her wife and encouraging squeeze.

“What if this doesn't work?” Jayce asked.

“Then we have to take serious steps. But, let’s go one step at a time. We’ve each spoken to him and gotten nowhere. Let’s see what happens when the two of us do it in a civil manner while buying him breakfast,” Gus replied.

Jayce nodded and Gus exited the car. She walked to the passenger door and helped Jayce out of the car and they went into the diner. Quentin waited at a table already and they slid in across from him. He jumped, as if they had sneaked up on him.

“Good morning,” Gus said.

“Jayce, I thought it was just going to be us,” Quentin said.

Jayce frowned and shook her head a little. “I don’t know why you thought that.”

“We thought it would be best for you to see both of us,” Gus said.

“For you to understand that it’s two of us. We’re both Octie’s parents. We adopted her and she’s our daughter, Q,” Jayce said, holding Gus’ hand on the table. She wanted him to get the idea they were a unit.

Quentin frowned. “She’s my daughter, too.”

“No, she’s not,” Jayce sighed, shaking her head. “I don’t understand how you don’t get this when you got it five years ago. You said it.”

Before Quentin could say anything, a waiter came by and took their drink orders. Jayce was happy when he was gone and she turned her attention right back to Quentin. He looked like everything was fine, which she did not take as a good sign.

“Quentin, seriously, what the hell do we need to do to get you to understand?” Jayce asked.

“This is what you wanted,” Gus chimed. “You gave Octie to Jayce to make sure she had a good life. She has a great life. Two loving parents, a brother she adores, a room full of toys, and we do all sorts of great things as a family. This what you wanted for her.”

Quentin’s face twitched a bit, like he was going to frown or smile. He did neither. Jayce was not sure what to make of it because it like he was both happy and upset by this news.

“Has that changed?” Jayce asked.

Quentin shook her head. “No. Of course I want the best for her and that all sounds awesome. Really awesome.” 

“So, why are you trying to make waves?” Gus inquired, squinting in confusion.

“I’m not! You two don’t get it!” he barked.

“What don’t we get? Explain it.” Something was wrong and Jayce was not sure what. He seemed to have changed, but not entirely. He also seemed irritable about getting exactly what he wanted.

“I’m her father,” he growled.

“No, you helped create her, but you’re not her father,” Gus stated.

“I am her father,” he insisted.

“Q, you’re not. You haven’t been in her life since she was born. How can you claim to be her father? Why are you claiming to be her father now? Last I saw you, you told me straight up that she’s not your daughter. Why has that changed?” Jayce gently pressed.

“Because she’s mine,” he huffed, holding his arms across her chest. “Mine and yours.”

“She’s not a pair of sneakers or a t-shirt.” Gus scowled. “What good could you possibly do her? Can you feed her on the daily basis? Can you put clothes on her back when she grows out of them? Can you put shoes on her feet when she outgrows those? Can you help her with her homework? Can you soothe her when she’s sick? Hold her when she’s scared? Make everything better with a simple smile? Can you do any of that?”

He ground his teeth. It would seem Gus hit a sore spot. Jayce swallowed and thought about how right Gus was. Her brother could not give Octie any of life’s necessities and definitely could not give her beyond that. Those were the important things and Quentin needed to understand that.

“Q, can you do anything with Octie that Dad used to do with you?” Jayce asked. “Can you go running with her? Can you sit patiently for an hour and help her with math? Can you even teach her how to tie her shoes?”

Quentin licked his lips. “I could…” His voice quivered and he glanced away.

“In between drug runs?” Gus pressed.

“Q, you don’t even want to get into a program. How can you say you’re a father if you’re not willing to get into a program for your daughter?” Jayce asked.

“I’ve got it under control,” Quentin argued.

Jayce could not believe he said that, actually said that while sitting across from them as if they were blind. Their drinks were brought to them, but no one drank them. Quentin ran his finger down his glass, but did not pick it up.

“So, are you ready to order?” the waiter asked, obviously to what he was interrupting.

They all rattled off breakfast orders, even though Jayce and Gus had already eaten. They were not surprised Quentin ordered a full meal. The waiter scurried away.

“You seriously think you have this under control? Are you kidding me?” Jayce stared at Q in disbelief he would let that delusion leave his mouth.

“I do,” he hissed.

“No, under control means you know you’re an addict, you’re in a program, and you’ve stopped using. That’s under control,” Jayce stated.

“So, what are you saying?” Quentin frowned.

Jayce took a deep breath and held Gus’ hand even tighter. “We don’t want you around our daughter if you’re not even going to try. If you’re going to go around spouting how you’re her father and you’re going to keep doing whatever drugs you’re on, then you can’t see her.” Jayce squeezed her wife’s hand and Gus squeezed back and patted her on the shoulder, showing her support in Jayce’s words.

“You can’t just keep me from my kid,” Quentin stated.

“No, actually we can because legally she’s not your kid,” Gus said.

“Therefore, if you touch her, we will have you arrested, Q,” Jayce promised. Again, it hurt, but it was necessary.

He gasped and his eyes went wide. “Really, Jayce? Really?”

“Yes, really. I’m a mother. I have to do what’s best for my child and you sitting here telling me you’re fine and you think you have some right to my daughter is not a good thing. Why the hell are you doing this? Is it seriously for money? Did Mom put you up to this?” Jayce demanded.

Quentin glanced away and Jayce felt a stab of betrayal in her gut. She had hoped he at least came because he really cared about Octie. Now, it seemed like he was doing something that had to do with their mother.

“Q, tell me,” Jayce ordered.

“Mom didn’t put me up to this exactly,” he admitted.

“Then what?” Jayce’s tone was curt and sharp. Gus squeezed her hand, probably to help keep her calm, but it was impossible. Not with her brother falling to a new low.

“I ran out of money a while ago and I went to Mom, asking why I wasn’t getting my monthly allowance from my inheritance from Dad’s death.” That was the money that kept him high long after his own money had dried up. Of course, thanks to her mother, Jayce never saw such money, even though her father had left her an inheritance.

“And?” Gus asked.

He frowned, obviously not liking Gus. “And she said she was cutting me off. She doesn’t have any right to do that. I mean, it’s my money and I’m an adult.”

“So, what did she tell you to spy on us or something and she’ll give you your money back?” Jayce inquired, her lip curled.

“Part of that, but really what happened was she reminded me about someone I had forgotten about,” he answered.

“Octie?” she guessed.

“Mom brought her up, wanted me to somehow get her back. I had forgotten all about her, but hearing her name, I remembered. I remembered and I wanted to see her. I actually forgot I gave her to you at first and went back to my old apartment. Of course, she wasn’t there,” he explained.

Jayce could not believe he had actually forgotten about Octie for a while, had forgotten he had done the right thing by signing away his parental rights. He was so messed up, just as messed up as he had been when he vanished for months after leaving his one-year-old daughter on the floor of his apartment. _People don’t change_. Her brother had not changed. Her mother had not changed.

“So, this doesn’t have anything to do with money?” Gus asked.

“It does and it doesn’t. How about you let me tell it?” he snapped.

“Then tell it,” Jayce huffed.

“I went back to Mom, wanting to know where the hell the baby was. She told me how you had her and where you were and sweet-talked me with money, telling me to go get her back. At first, I just wanted to see her. I mean, I got a daughter. It blew my mind,” he said and Jayce wanted to chime in, but she bit her tongue to let him tell it. “Plus, there was you. I mean, god, it’s been years. See my sister, see my daughter, and get money? Seemed like a no-brainer.”

“So, you wanted to see me?” Jayce scoffed.

“Of course. Jayce, you think I don’t miss you? You think I don’t think about you? Just because we haven’t seen each other doesn’t mean you’re not on my mind,” he stated.

“Sweet words. You think you can talk money out of me like you do with Mom?” Jayce huffed.

Sighing, he held up his hands. “I guess that’s fair.” He actually pouted a bit. “I’ve fucked up a lot, huh, Jayce?”

“Hell, yeah. What the hell was the plan here? I mean, really. What the hell were you planning to do?” 

“I didn’t really have a plan. I just… it was basically what I said. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what I’m doing. I wanted to see you and Princess and make Mom happy somehow,” he said, throwing up his hands.

“This has to stop, Q. I need you to understand, I’m a mother and I have to look out for my child. I’m also a wife and I have to look out for my wife. You’re interfering with our family.”

Quentin frowned and stared at the table. “I’m your family.” His voice was low and cracked.

Jayce’s stomach flipped. She did not want to hurt her brother. He was her family. Gus leaned against her, physically reminded Jayce of the family they built. She had a responsibility to them first.

“Again, I’m a mother and that comes first. You just admitted that you’re possibly trying to use me and my daughter. You don’t want to get into a program. I’m sure as we sit here, you’re trying to scheme on how to get money out of me and out of Mom to feed your addiction. I can’t do this. I can’t do this to myself or my daughter.” It hurt, but it was the best thing. She wished he loved her as much as she loved him because he would seek help. Hell, she wished he loved Octie as much as she loved Octie because he would be in a program right now.

“She’s my daughter, too,” he argued.

“But, not really,” Gus said. “You don’t seem to understand that she’s not your daughter. She’s our daughter, Jayce and mine. We’re trying to be respectful and talk this out, but you don’t seem to get it.”

“No, you don’t seem to get it,” he huffed.

Their food was brought to the table at this point. Jayce had no plans to eat her eggs and toast. She might not be able to eat for the rest of the day thanks to this. Gus did not even look at her omelet. Her hazel eyes remained locked on Quentin, who picked up his utensils to start in on his short stack of pancakes. _How the hell can he eat at a time like this?_

“I think we should go,” Jayce said. There was nothing to say there. She was not sure if they could get through to Quentin because she had no idea what he was trying to accomplish. Hell, she was not sure he knew what he was trying to accomplish.

“You sure?” Gus asked.

“Jayce, what are you doing?” Quentin asked.

“Leaving. I’m trying to get through to you, but I feel like I never will. I’ve got to walk away, even though I’m scared this will be the last time I see you. But, you’re no good for me. I make poor decisions around you and that’s bad for my daughter. Hell, bad for my marriage. So, this is goodbye,” Jayce replied.

Jayce stood and Gus followed. Gus threw down money on the table, which covered the meals and more. As they walked away, Quentin reached out and grabbed Jayce’s hand. Jayce swallowed hard and pulled her hand away.

“Jayce, don’t,” he begged.

“I love you, Quentin. I really do, but I love Octie more. She needs me more than you do. Look us up if you ever clean up. Now, let me go,” Jayce ordered. Much to her surprise, he did. His eyes drifted to the floor and he ducked his head.

Gus led Jayce out of the diner with her hand on the small of Jayce’s back. Jayce was not sure how she felt about the meeting. Had she just lost her brother… again? She was not sure. But, she had done what was best for her family.

“Gus…”

“Yeah?” Gus said as she pulled out of the parking lot.

“Should it hurt this bad?” she asked in a small voice. “Protecting my family shouldn’t hurt so much. Being disappointed by my brother yet again shouldn't hurt so much.”

“Of course it should, baby. He’s your brother. But, you did the best thing.”

“I’m sorry I got so mad at you.”

Gus smiled. “It’s all right, Jay bird. It’s all right.”

Jayce sighed. It did not feel all right, but it certainly was for the best. She hoped Quentin went away and they could get back to normal. She just wanted what was best for their family.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: the family tries to get back to normal, but there are still forces working against it.


	7. Worry some more

7: Worry some more

Gus could tell that Jayce was worn out from their meeting with Quentin. She would not expect anything less, especially since they left the meeting still a little confused on what Quentin was trying to do. Gus hated to think that the decade of drug use had rotted away Quentin’s mind. She was not a fan of the man, but he was her wife’s brother and it was thanks to them they had Octie. She knew Jayce wanted him to get his act together and now was probably trying to pull herself together in the reality that it might not happen.

“Say, honey, what if we go do something?” Gus proposed. She thought maybe a nice time would help Jayce deal with everything.

“You have work,” Jayce pointed out in a dull tone from the passenger side of the car.

“I think my boss will understand if I don’t go in,” Gus smirked as she pulled into their driveway.

Jayce shook her head. “It’s all right. You go in. You have enough to worry about. I’ll be all right.”

“Love, I’m here for you. You come first,” Gus stated, grabbing Jayce’s hands and holding tight.

“I’ll be fine. Please, go back to work. Make sure everything goes right there. We need to send Octie to college, after all,” Jayce remarked with a smile.

Gus sighed, but she nodded in agreement. Jayce leaned over and gave her a rather tired kiss on the cheek before getting out of the car. Gus watched her wife enter the house and seriously considered following. The only thing that kept her in the car was the idea that Jayce really might need to be alone to process things.

“She’ll talk to me about it when she’s ready,” Gus reminded herself. _Or, she’ll call whoever the hell that is on the phone that she doesn’t want me to know about_. The thought made Gus frown and she drove away before she got out the car just to see if Jayce was on the phone. “I trust my wife. I trust my wife.”

Of course, she doubted it was a good thing for her to need to repeat that herself all the way to work. Before she went to her office, her assistant gave her messages and notes for calls that she missed. They were mostly business calls, but amongst the stack the name Amanda stood out. Frowning, Gus turned to her assistant.

“Shelly, why the hell did Amanda call?” Gus huffed.

Shelly, a feisty, petite woman, shrugged from behind her desk. “She just asked that you call her back at that number.”

“Why did you even take that call?”

“Because it’s my job to take calls and usually if you don’t want me to take a call, you tell me.”

Gus grunted because Shelly was right. “Okay, so don’t take calls from her anymore. I don’t want to talk to her.”

Shelly gave her a strong nod. “Okay. Understood. But, what if it’s actually important?”

Frowning, Gus threw up her hands. “How the hell could anything Amanda have to say be important?”

Shelly’s green eyes narrowed, challenging her. “I find it important if she’s trying to take this place over again. How do I know she hasn’t figure out a way to ruin your divorce?”

Gus shook her head. _Ruin the divorce? How is that even a thing? These guys don’t make any sense anymore_. For a brief moment, Gus felt like she was the only sane person in an insane world.

“Because my lawyer’s not an idiot and I’m remarried, so she clearly has no connections to me. You guys need to stop worrying. If we all ignore her, I’m sure she’ll go away. She thrives on attention and drama,” Gus reminded everyone as she disappeared into her office.

Gus flung herself into her chair and sighed. She got to work, doing her best to focus and not think about Amanda or what Jayce might be up to. She managed for about an hour before she could not take it anymore. She needed to check on Jayce, so she called. The phone rang and rang before the voicemail came on. This was odd.

Gus left a message. “Hey, love, it’s me. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Call me back, okay?”

Sighing, Gus rubbed her face and glanced at the message from Amanda. She wondered what the hell Amanda wanted. She could guess it involved money and she dared to think Amanda had shown up to try to charm money out of her. _Not a snowball’s chance in Hell of that happening_. She just wanted Amanda to go away and this phone call made her think that was not going to happen soon.

“Well, I’m not the same idiot that was married to her. She’s not going to get to me,” Gus muttered. Her phone ringing took her mind off of that and she saw it was Jayce calling back. “Hey, Jay bird.”

“Hey, Gus. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Gus sighed heavily.

“You sound exhausted. Is the glitch still bugging you?”

“No, no, no. Nothing like that. How are you doing?”

“I’m all right. I was curled up in bed when you called earlier. I went to go get Gus-Gus a little while ago and his smile just made me feel better.”

Gus laughed. “That’s so sweet.”

“Yeah, that kid is all right when he’s not taking all his clothes off. Thanks for checking up on me.”

Gus smiled. “I’m your wife. I’m supposed to do things like that. I know this morning was rough on you.”

“Rough, but necessary. Life’s going to be a little rough, but if we just made things better for Octie then, that’s all I can ask for. I’ll keep hoping Q will get into a program, but until that happens, he won’t come near our kids,” Jayce stated.

Gus thought this new determination came from the fact that Quentin mentioned their mother. Jayce probably would always fear her mother managing to take Octie, even though she knew it was an irrational fear. Jayce’s mother would always be the boogeyman lurking in the closet for her, even though she had stood up to her mother and they had beaten her mother at every turn.

“How is the little emperor doing?”

“Here, talk to him.” Jayce shifted the phone.

“Hi, Papa!” Gus-Gus cheered.

“Hey, little man. You taking care of your Mommy?”

“I made pies!”

Gus smiled, knowing his “pies” were made of Play-doh. Of course, those were the things that probably put the smile on Jayce’s face. Gus tried to find out more about their son’s day, but he was not known for his great conversational skills. She hoped as he got older he became a believer in adding details because she would like to know more about his day than “doing stuff.” She would like to know the “stuff” at least.

“Bye, Papa,” Gus-Gus said out of the blue and she heard him pass the phone back to his mommy.

Jayce chuckled. “You should see him.”

“What’s so important that he had to get off the phone with me?”

“A squirrel in the backyard. He’s screaming at it through the sliding glass.”

Gus laughed. “At least he’s having fun.”

“Yes. Well, you should get back to work. We’ll see you at soon.”

“Yeah. Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

Gus grinned as she hung up the phone. Jayce loved her, so she needed to stop worrying about silly things. If nothing else, she needed to make sure Jayce was all right after this thing with her brother. She wondered if there was a way to make sure Quentin never came around again unless he was in a program.

“Can I force someone to go into a program?” she wondered. No, that sounded a lot like kidnapping and forced imprisonment, which were all kinds of illegal. “But, people have people committed all the time and that’s not kidnapping and forced imprisonment… right?” She would definitely need to think about this one more.

At the end of the day, Gus was happy to go home and with good news, too. Just as she figured, her employee Dave fixed the glitch in their game, so that was still on schedule. She decided to pick up a cake and flowers for Jayce, just because. She burst into the house, immediately getting the children’s attention.

“Papa!” both kids practically flew at her.

Gus laughed and tried to protect her gifts as best she could. Thankfully, Jayce was right behind the kids. Gus handed her the cake and flowers quickly. Giving Jayce a quick kiss, Gus then leaned down and picked up the kids. She groaned as she stood; they were getting too heavy for her to lift both of them at once.

“You brought a cake?” Jayce asked.

“I wanted to surprise you with sweets for once,” Gus replied with a smile.

“Thank you,” Jayce said as she turned her attention to the children. “Papa brought in dessert, guys.”

“Because Papa’s the best,” Octie declared.

“Yes, but only good little boys and girls get cake. Those who have done their homework,” Gus said, looking at Octie. “And those that don’t drive Mommy crazy,” she added, staring directly at Gus-Gus.

“I made Mommy smile,” the boy boasted, puffing out his chest.

Gus laughed and carried the children into the living room. The family had one of their usual nights. It was nice to fall into bed at the end of the day. Gus wrapped Jayce into her arms and rested her chin on the top of Jayce’s head.

“Octie seemed really energetic today,” Gus noted.

“She didn’t want to go to the park again, so she had a lot of energy to burn off,” Jayce explained with her arms wrapped around Gus and a leg thrown over her for good measure. The way she was practically tied around Gus settled Gus a bit.

Gus sighed. “We need to do something about that.”

“I was thinking maybe taking her to a different park. If I change our routine, Quentin might not be able to find us.”

“No, no, no. You can’t do that,” Gus objected.

“Why not?”

“Because it makes it seem like he won. She’ll think you ran away and she’ll think when faced with something scary, you should run away.”

“But, what if she’s traumatized by what happened at the other park? I don’t want to hurt her more. Plus, he could be there and I don’t want her to see him again if she’s actually scared of him. Not to mention, it’s like you said, people at the park will start to think he’s somebody to Octie and who knows what he could do…” Jayce gnawed on her bottom lip as she held onto Gus that much tighter.

“So, it’s a combination of her being scared and you being scared?” Gus asked, even though that was obvious.

“I just… who knows what he might do for the right amount of money.”

Gus rubbed Jayce’s back, hoping to relax her. “This is true, but she loves that park and it’s the closest one on your way home. You shouldn’t make more work for yourself. Work smarter, not harder.”

Jayce’s brow furrowed. “And how do you propose I do that?”

“Well, first and foremost, we need to have a real talk with Octie. We let her know that she doesn’t have to be scared of your brother, only weary of him. She shouldn’t go anywhere with him, no matter what, and if he comes near her when neither of us is around, she should say something, scream if necessary.”

“Won’t that just frighten her more?”

“I don’t think so. I think Octie prefers it when we have a plan. Hell, I prefer when we have some kind of plan.”

Jayce frowned. “Why? So, I can ruin that, too.”

Sighing, Gus held onto Jayce tighter and rearranged herself, so she looked at Jayce. “It was a mistake, love. We all make them. It was just a mistake. You’ve made it and learned from it. Please, stop beating yourself up about it.”

“I’m sorry. I just… I still can’t believe Q. If my mother offers him the right amount of money, he might walk off with Octie. He might just steal our daughter, just so he can buy his precious drugs.” Jayce sneered.

“Or he might not. This is the same guy who gave you Octie because he knew you’d be the best parent for her. I know he screwed up a lot and he has scared you, but I think deep down he wants to do what’s best for her and I think that comes before whatever drugs he’s on.”

Jayce nodded. “Thanks.”

“That’s unnecessary. I’m here for this. I’m here for you.”

“I’m happy you are.”

Gus smiled at what she felt was a sincere declaration. She had worried about Jayce doing other things for no reason. Sighing, she rubbed Jayce’s arm.

“Maybe we could help get things back to normal for Octie. There’s a carnival. We could go this weekend and have a family outing,” Jayce suggested.

“I’d like that, even though I still want to have some alone time with you at some point. Then, we’ll take her to the park together on Monday, so she can see it’s all right.”

“Don’t you have work on Monday?”

Gus laughed. “Yeah, but like I always tell you, I’m in really good with the boss. Better than that, the glitch got fixed, so I feel like I’ve earned a little break.”

“Oh, god, love, I’m happy you got that fixed. So, now the game can come out?”

“Yes. So, that’s one less thing to worry about. Hopefully, your brother is also one less thing to worry about.”

Jayce nodded. Gus truly hoped things were behind them. She just wanted to have a nice, quiet life with her family. She did not think it was too much to ask.

-8-8-8-8-

Jayce decided to try to take Octie to the park. Gus-Gus almost tore out of his stroller when they got on the same street as the park. Octie grabbed Jayce’s hand and held it tight as they got to the entrance.

“It’ll be all right, Princess,” Jayce promised.

Octie nodded and took a deep breath. She released Jayce’s hand and Jayce almost pulled her back when she charged off. _She’s so brave. She has to get that from Gus_. Jayce would never believe herself to be so daring.

“Mommy,” Gus-Gus whined, tugging on the straps of his stroller.

Jayce turned her attention to her son and freed him from the stroller. He did not make it a point to wander far from her, never did. He had toys in his stroller and pulled them out from the bottom. He played at her feet with some trucks.

Jayce rubbed the top of his head and turned to catch sight of Octie. Her little girl seemed fine, going down the slides and laughing with other kids she knew. Travis charged by them, waving on his way to Octie, while Trevor sat down.

“Howdy, neighbor,” Trevor said with a grin.

Jayce smiled. “Hey. It’s been a while since you’re been in the park.”

“We’re just passing through. He’s really into seeing his grandparents lately.”

“It’s amazing that they moved closer to help you guys when Helena delivers.”

Trevor scoffed. “They’re over the moon. If they could move into our backyard, they would. He loves going over there. You’d think they’d have cookies and milk every time.”

“They do, don’t they?” she deadpanned.

He laughed. “Yeah, they do. He wants Octie to join him over there. He doesn’t get that they’re not her grandparents.”

“He’s got a big heart.”

“But, if you ever want a break from her, she is welcomed. They love kids and wouldn’t mind her as long as I’m there.”

Jayce nodded. “Thanks.” She could possibly use that if Gus still wanted some alone time between them. Octie could join Trevor and Travis while Jannie looked after Gus-Gus. She would just have to pack food for Gus-Gus to avoid Jannie giving into his whims of fast food again.

They chatted for a few minutes before Trevor bade her farewell and went to collect Travis. Trevor playfully rubbed the top of Gus-Gus’ head and Travis hugged Octie farewell. Octie pouted for a moment, watching Travis leave, but went back to playing within minutes.

Jayce glanced down at Gus-Gus, who was talking to himself, but more than likely in the character of his precious cars. She smiled because his cars and his action figures and pretty much all of his toys were the same characters, characters that fought and crashed into each other. In the house, she would play with him if requested, but outside he was always fine by himself. Heaven help any child that dared ask to play with him. She hoped their little emperor did not end up isolated and a loner.

Shaking those thoughts away, Jayce glanced up at Octie. She was not playing anymore. She stood, stark still, staring in the distance. Jayce’s heart jumped and her stomach flipped as her eyes went to where Octie focused, frightened she would see Quentin there. Her brother was nowhere to be seen, but her daughter raced over to her.

“Mommy, mommy, mommy,” Octie said quickly, almost frantically.

“Yes, Little Bit, what is it?” Jayce asked, reaching out and caressing Octie’s face.

“Home. Can we go home now? Let’s go home,” Octie begged.

“What? Why?” They had hardly been in the park for twenty minutes. Usually, she would have to drag the child away even if they had been there over an hour.

“Just, let’s go. Please, now. Please!” Octie implored.

“All right.” Jayce got up and picked up Gus-Gus.

“Mommy,” the boy complained, trying to wiggle out of her hold.

“Stop squirming, Caesar. We have to go home. You can have your snack early.”

“Snack,” he cheered and settled into his stroller. Octie tossed his toys into the basket at the bottom of the stroller and led the way out of the park. Octie damn near ran off, stopping only when she got to the corner because she was not allowed to cross the street on her own.

“Octie, what’s the matter?” Jayce inquired as she took her daughter’s hand. She made sure to check the street before crossing with her children.

“Nothing,” Octie grumbled.

“You can tell me. Maybe I can help.”

Octie frowned and shook her head. “I can’t tell you.”

“Why not?” Jayce gently pressed.

Octie sniffled. “Because…”

“Because what?”

“Because… he’s your brother.”

Jayce swallowed hard and clutched onto her daughter’s hand more, even though they had already hit the sidewalk. Was Quentin at the park? Did she miss him? Did he approach Octie? _Oh, my god!_ The only reason she did not panic was because she had to look after her children and get them home safe, but they needed to do something about Quentin.

“Yes, he’s my brother, but you can still tell me. Did you see him? Was he at the park?” Jayce asked.

Octie shook her head. “I thought… I thought he was,” she whispered with a tight scowl cutting across her face.

“It’s okay, kiddo. You don’t have to worry about him and if you do see him, you don’t go anywhere with him, okay?” Jayce stated. She did not want her brother to have a chance to do something stupid.

Octie nodded, but she remained quiet. Jayce sighed, feeling she would need Gus for this. They came to the house and entered. As Jayce went to take Gus-Gus out, she found the boy stuck in his shirt, which he was trying to get out of. Jayce sighed.

“I’m tempted to leave you like this, buddy,” Jayce muttered before rescuing him from the “bad” shirt.

“Off!” Gus-Gus demanded and he tugged at the straps of his stroller. “Out!”

“Hey, what do we say?” Jayce scolded him.

Gus-Gus frowned. “Out, please.”

Jayce released him from the stroller. She put the stroller away and gave the children their snacks. They were allowed to watch cartoons until Gus came in.

Jayce took a moment to herself, sitting by the front windows in the living room. She and Gus did need to come up with a plan for Octie. She would not be able to stomach Octie needing to leave the park randomly like this, scared that Quentin was there or frightened that she saw him. Frowning, she hated that her brother had done this.

She was certain Quentin would make a great uncle if he could only get off of those drugs. She remembered when they were children and how fun loving and supportive he was. He was the one who made her feel included. She wondered what in the world made him continuously go to drugs instead of coming to her. She used to go to him whenever she had a problem, so why could he not come to her? The only time he did was when he found himself a single dad and now he managed to cause friction there.

Thinking of parents, she glanced over at her own children. Octie was clearly upset, barely eating her snack and sitting on the couch with very little movement. Gus-Gus had already swallowed his snack. Jayce could not help wondering if the boy was part snake and had seriously just swallowed everything whole while she missed him unhinging his jaw. He hopped up and down at the show as the characters sang about sharing.

-8-8-8-8-

Gus was so happy to be home. Working out the launching of her latest game and dealing with Amanda calling was more than she needed for the day. She wished Amanda would take a hint. She was no longer taking her calls, but Amanda had called ten times in one day. It was distracting for Shelly, who had a job to do just like everyone else.

As soon as she opened the door, children were wrapped around her legs. Leaning down, she hugged them both. She pulled Gus-Gus into a tight embrace, making him giggle and groan. He pushed out of her arms, slipping out of his shirt at the same time. Chuckling, she turned her attention to Octie and noticed how distraught her daughter appeared.

“Jay,” Gus called, hoping her wife was not on the phone again.

“Yes?” Jayce asked, poking her head into the foyer from the kitchen. She wiped her hands with a dishcloth, so Gus guessed her wife was doing the dishes.

Gus nodded down to Octie, silently requesting an explanation. Jayce held up her hand and shook her finger. They would discuss it later. Gus decided to get into their routine, hoping it would do Octie some good.

“All right, what happened to the princess? Your brother didn’t show up again, did he?” Gus asked as she and Jayce settled on the couch. The kids were in bed after many stories and Gus had to check Octie’s closet for monsters she had never worried about before.

“She thought she saw Q at the park today,” Jayce said.

Gus smiled for a moment. “You took her to the park?”

Jayce sighed. “I feel like we both have trauma to get over, but I think it was too much too soon. I mean, she wanted to leave as soon as Travis wasn’t around anymore. I don’t think Q was there, but she was so scared that she saw him. I mess up again, didn’t I?”

Gus gathered her wife in her arms. “You didn’t mess up. It just takes time. You know that. As long as Quentin doesn’t come around, you should be all right. I’ll meet you at the park tomorrow and for the next few days. I think she’ll feel better with both of us there.”

“I’ll feel better if you’re there.”

“I’m really sorry about your brother.” Gus said, rubbing Jayce’s back. She sighed a bit when Jayce pressed closer to her. She felt like if Marion was not careful, she would lose her golden boy, enabling him to death. She had not come up with any ideas on how to rid them of Quentin. Part of her would like to just toss money at him to get him to go away, but she knew Jayce would never forgive her for that.

“I have to learn to let him go. He’ll come back when he’s ready. Right now, I want to put our little girl back together.”

Gus nodded. “That makes two of us. So, I was thinking, instead of going to the little cheesy carnival, what if we went to a real amusement park this weekend? We can grab the neighbors and make it an event. Maybe even get Jannie to come.”

“Sounds like fun. It’ll definitely lift her spirits.”

Gus felt like it would help them all. After all of this crap with just seeing and speaking to Amanda, she needed time with her family as much as Jayce and Octie did. Her family was wonderful, as was her life and she would not let thoughts of Amanda ruin that. Besides, her little girl needed her.

-8-8-8-8-

The next day, Gus joined them at the park. The second she got out of the car, Octie spotted her. She grinned and Octie grinned back.

“Hi, Papa!” Octie shouted, waving like a maniac.

“Hey, Octie,” Gus replied, purposely waving just like her daughter to get a laugh out of the child.

Octie laughed and went right back to playing while Gus tried to spot the bench that held her wife. Jayce sat with Trevor. Gus sighed. She had feared Jayce would be sitting with the woman from before. It did not mean Jayce was doing anything with that woman, but the thought still made her nervous.

“Hey,” Gus said as she walked up to Jayce and Trevor. She leaned down to give Jayce a brief kiss before shaking Trevor’s hand.

“Papa!” Gus-Gus cheered from his spot at Jayce’s feet. He was busy crashing his cars together.

“Hey there, little Caesar. Did Mommy take you on the slides yet?”

“Slides,” Gus-Gus cheered, but he did not put his cars down. Gus chuckled and sat down next to her wife.

“You know we never actually make it to the slides,” Jayce pointed out.

“I love seeing how easily his attention goes right back to his toys,” Gus replied with a smile. She turned her attention to Trevor. “How’s it going, man? Ready to be a dad again?”

“I am eager and wanting. Speaking of that, me and Helena talked about your idea for the weekend and we don’t think we should go. Helena can’t do all of that walking. No way in Hell,” he replied with a frown.

“Don’t I know it,” Jayce chuckled and leaned against Gus. “They want us to take Travis, though.”

Gus pretended to gasp in horror. “The nerve! You want us to take your kid so you and the wife can stay behind and have time to yourselves?”

Trevor laughed. “That was the hope.”

Gus waved him off. “Since I know Jay already agreed, yeah, we can do that. Octie will love having her best bud around.”

“She also agreed to keep him overnight,” Trevor added.

“She did not!” Gus gasped. It was hard to hold in her laughter.

“I did,” Jayce admitted.

“I know.” Gus would have agreed for the same reason she knew her wife again – it would help Octie. Travis was her shy little rock.

“You guys are awesome,” Trevor said.

The couple waved him off. He would do the same for them. Hell, he and Helena had done the same for them. They were great neighbors and made Gus so grateful they owned the house right next door.

-8-8-8-8-

The kids were understandably excited when they pulled into the parking lot of the theme park. They had been a couple of times already, so they knew what to expect. They hardly let Jayce and Gus unstrap them from the backseat.

“I’m gonna ride the flying dragons!” Travis declared, leaping out of the car.

“The big slide!” Octie threw her hands in the air.

“Papa, papa, papa!” Gus-Gus cried, holding his hands out for Gus to free him from his car seat. “Horsie!”

“Yes, bud, I’ll take you on the horsies,” Gus promised. He liked going on merry-go-rounds.

Jayce pulled out the stroller along with a small bag of homemade goodies. All of their spending money would go toward souvenirs rather than food the kids would only complain about after four bites anyway. It also saved Jayce from hearing Gus complain about the outrageous prices of the food. Gus always acted like it was her first time whenever they stood in a line for snacks.

“Stay together,” Jayce reminded them as Octie grabbed her hand. Travis opted for holding onto the stroller. Gus carried their son on her shoulders.

They wasted no time in getting into the park, having brought their tickets in advance and printed them out online. They also had quick passes, so there was no waiting on any lines, which the kids loved of course. Two rides in and they were already tugging Jayce and Gus in opposite directions for more fun.

“Teacups!” Octie pointed to their right.

“Pirate ship!” Travis pointed to their left.

“We’ll get to both of them. How about we go see the animal show first?” Jayce suggested.

“Yes!” they agreed immediately.

They went to a live animal show. It was going well. And then, there was a hiccup. It did not involve the children and was probably not very big, but still, it made Gus’ heart jump in her throat. Jayce stood on line to buy a few toys and the woman behind her spoke to her.

“It’s probably nothing,” Gus said aloud, as if that made it more believable. Yet, her heart clenched when the woman said something and Jayce laughed.

“Papa, may I get this, too?” Octie requested, waving around a turtle plushie.

“You better catch Mommy before she pays for everything,” Gus replied.

Octie nodded and rushed over to Jayce, who grinned. She pointed down to Octie and the woman on line laughed as well. Gus was tempted to ease over and listen to whatever they were discussing, but she needed to keep an eye on Travis and she told herself she needed to trust Jayce. _My sweet Jay isn’t anything like Amanda_.

Gus’ stomach twisted until Jayce was back at her side. She tried to put it out of her mind, wanting to be happy that Jayce had finally come out of her shell. Instead, she felt her nerves jump each time Jayce glanced at another woman. At one point, she was certain Jayce blatantly checked out a woman in front of her. But, she dismissed that at her own forming insanity.

“Guys, stay together!” Jayce called out to Travis and Octie as they charged forward, having seen a face-painting stand. They were already seated on stools by the time Gus and Jayce caught up with them.

“I’m going to get them some balloons,” Gus said, nodding toward the stand just across the way.

“Okay. You want to give me the emperor?” Jayce asked.

“Nah, he’s good,” Gus replied, still holding their son on her shoulders. She could feel him having a ball in her hair. She could only imagine what she looked like.

The second Gus stepped away, she glanced back at Jayce to see her chatting with some other woman. It was ridiculous. _What the hell does she have to talk about with all of these people?_ Of course, when she noticed Jayce point to the kids, that answered her question, but still. Gus bought the balloons and hurried back to Jayce’s side, wanting the woman to see Jayce was taken, if the ring on her finger did not explain it enough.

“Hey, baby, you think you could tie Gus-Gus’ balloon to his wrist before he sends them all flying off into space?” Gus requested, glancing at the woman.

“Sure thing,” Jayce answered with a smile. “Caesar, which one is yours?”

“Got the cool al’gator,” Gus-Gus boasted.

“Okay, give Mommy the string then.” Gus-Gus passed her the string, but really Gus passed it to her as she was holding all of the balloons. Gus-Gus thought he was in control, though.

“So, this one is your son?” the woman asked Jayce.

“Yes, our busy little boy. Doesn’t he look just like his Mama?” Jayce bragged, making sure to wink at Gus. Gus could only hope one day “papa” transformed into “mama.” 

The woman smiled at Gus. “He really does look like you.”

Gus grinned. She did not hear that often enough in her opinion and this took her mind off of any other thing Jayce could have possibly been discussing with the woman. Suddenly, two boys came out of nowhere and dragged the woman away, so Gus would probably never know the extent of Jayce’s conversation with her. Gus knew she did not have anything to worry about, but it ate her anyway. It seemed like every time Jayce stepped away from her she was engaged in a conversation with some new woman.

The day went on until the park closed at eight. Everyone had their faces painted, balloons tied to their wrists, new t-shirts over their others, and plushies pressed to their chests. They were asleep before Gus pulled up to the first traffic light.

“They’re worn out,” Jayce chuckled.

“That makes four of us,” Gus commented.

Jayce laughed a little more. “I think it makes five of us. We should have a light dinner when we get in since we didn’t really eat anything. What do you think of sandwiches?”

“I am all for it. I’m putting in an order for grilled cheese.”

“Sounds good.”

Gus smiled and tried to let this ease her mind. They conversed the whole ride home and woke the kids up when they got there. Gus-Gus was cranky and would only go to his Mommy, so Gus wrangled the other two into the house. It barely took an hour to have each child bathed, dressed, fed, and put to bed; Travis slept in Gus-Gus’ room on a children’s chair that folded out into a bed.

Gus practically fell into bed next to Jayce, who was already under the covers. Smiling to herself, Gus slid in next to Jayce. Wrapping her arms around Jayce, she pulled her close and kissed her neck. Jayce sighed, a purr of encouragement to Gus. She moved her hand, needing to feel Jayce’s skin. Another soft sound eased Jayce, but she pulled away.

“Not tonight, Gus. I’m so tired,” Jayce said.

Truthfully, Gus was worn out, too, but she wanted to prove to herself Jayce still found her attractive. Of course, this did not seem to be the case since Jayce pulled away and just wanted to go to sleep. Gus could not help feeling the sting of rejection.

“Right…” Gus replied in a low voice.

With a smile on her face, Jayce settled into her pillow, holding Gus’ arms around her. A lump rose in Gus’ throat and settled in the pit of her stomach like an anchor. She considered their sex lives had tapered off. It was always easy to blame it on running around with the kids and work, but now, it just felt like Jayce did not find her attractive anymore.

“Or maybe she’s just…” Gus shook it away. It was crazy to think. She trusted Jayce with all of her heart and there were other factors. When would Jayce have the time? She had Gus-Gus all day and work every now and then. And, if Trevor saw something, he would have said something. But, still, she thought of secret phone calls, this new friendliness, and the fact that she could not remember the last time they made love. Anything was possible. Anything.

-8-8-8-8- 

Next time: Amanda shows up in the damnedest of places.


	8. Loose words

8: Loose words

Gus felt a headache coming on and she just wanted to put her head through her desk to cure it. She had not slept well over the weekend. Her dreams were filled with hazy images of Jayce on the phone with a mystery lover, as well as Jayce vaguely flirting with faceless women, movements in a bed, and Amanda, who she blamed for this whole thing.

Amanda had scarred her and Gus was all too aware of that now. She had thought she left this all behind when she met Jayce. She thought Jayce had healed her of the Amanda wounds. But, it seemed those had only scabbed over and Amanda’s presence picked at those scabs.

“I can’t let this get to me. Jay isn’t the cheater. Amanda was the cheater. They’re not the same.” Gus chanted this over and over, like a mantra.

Intellectually, she knew she had nothing to worry about, but emotionally, she felt shot to Hell. Every move Jayce made now had Gus’ heart in her throat. Anytime Jayce looked at a woman, Gus thought the worse. Their time over the weekend had been an exercise in Gus not having a heart attack while simply spending time with kids. They went to the movies yesterday and Gus had sworn Jayce flirted with the person selling the tickets and even at the concession stand. It was then Gus realized she had a problem.

“I’m losing my mind,” Gus figured, rubbing her forehead as if that would somehow keep her mind intact. “In fact, it’s trying to escape my madness.” It explained the headache anyway.

Sighing, she rubbed her eyes, feeling the intense throbbing just behind them. She needed painkillers. She rummaged through her drawers, knowing she had some somewhere. Once she found the bottle and checked the date to make sure they were still good, she turned to her mini fridge for something to drink. While her back was to the door, she heard it open. She figured it was just a member of the team, but she turned to see she was wrong.

Gus scowled. “Amanda. What the hell are you doing here?” She had left instructions with security to keep her out. _But, really, I’m sure she can talk her way into anywhere. And if she can’t talk, she has other things to get her in the door._ Gus worried she might never escape her ex at this rate.

“Gus, I’m beginning to think you don’t want me around.” Amanda pouted and popped the buttons on her coat.

“I don’t,” Gus said as bluntly as possible. She wished a member of her team were there because they damn sure would have stopped Amanda before she made it this far.

“So you say, but…” Amanda dropped her coat.

Gus actually expected her to be naked and was briefly relieved when she saw Amanda was wearing something. The relief abandoned her when she finally figured out what Amanda was wearing, or wasn’t wearing. She wasn’t wearing regular clothing. She had on a slip, and calling it that was being generous. Crimson lace barely left anything to the imagination.

“Amanda,” Gus sighed. It was a good thing she had not taken those painkillers yet or surely they would have been a waste.

“Gus, you know you want me. You can have me, all of me,” Amanda purred, stepping closer. Gus had never been happier to have a desk because it acted as a good barrier between them.

“Amanda, I’m married. And I know that doesn’t mean shit to you, but I take my vows very seriously. Not to mention, even if I wasn’t married, I wouldn’t touch you. I don’t see why you don’t get that. I don’t want you. So, just leave,” Gus ordered.

Amanda smirked and took another step. Gus narrowed her gaze and growled. Her fight or flight response was conflicted. Usually, she was ready to fight, but that would not work on Amanda. Amanda did not fight fair. Flight would not work because Amanda was between her and the only door. _Shit._

“Gus.” Amanda’s voice oozed sex with just the use of her name.

Gus had to swallow, trying to wet her rapidly drying throat. It felt like all of the moisture in her body needed to be elsewhere. _No, no, no. I am not turned on by this! Remember, you found her in bed with another woman. Not just any bed either, your marriage bed._ The memory of the hurt and betrayal hit her like a freight train. Suddenly, she felt nothing more than disgust for Amanda.

“Put your coat or and get out,” Gus stated and she knew this objection was different from the others because Amanda actually paused.

“Baby,” Amanda purred once she regained her composure.

“No, just stop. Amanda, once upon a time, this shit might’ve worked, but not now,” Gus deadpanned. “You want to use your body and sex to get what you want, fine. That’s your thing. That’s on you. But, don’t think it’ll work on me anymore. I already know how you feel about having sex with me, first of all. Second of all, I’m not that easy. A brief look at your tits won’t change my mind.”

Amanda frowned. “You’re making it sound like you think I’m a whore.”

“Says the woman standing in my work office in nothing more than a slip that barely covers her ass while she tries to seduce me.”

“Gus,” Amanda’s voice trembled, like she was about to cry.

Gus shook her head, hoping her disinterest oozed off of her like sex dripped from Amanda. She was tired of this game. She was tired of Amanda. She wanted to be able to enjoy her wife and her family without this ghost hovering over her.

“Don’t. Okay. Just, don’t. I don’t care about you any more. Nothing you do will get to me. We’re done and we have been for a long time. Now, I have work to do. You can show yourself out.”

“Gus, you don’t have to be this way. We had something special.”

“No, you had something special, but you let it go,” Gus replied. _Jayce would never treat me like that. Never. She loves me. But, then again, I thought Amanda loved me a long time ago._

“We can get it back!” Amanda’s eyes flashed, maybe with something akin to emotion, like she meant it, but Gus did not care.

“It’s never coming back. I don’t want to ever see you again.” Gus stared Amanda down.

Amanda clearly did not expect this. Gus could see her chin tremble and her eyes water. Gus found she did not care. Amanda’s tears meant nothing to her. Amanda was nothing to her.

“Why are you still here?”

“You can’t just… not love me anymore,” Amanda whimpered.

“Clearly, I can. You can’t possibly think so little of me to think I’d come crawling back to you. Or was this some attempt to just ruin my life again?” Gus shook her head. “I’m not going to play this game. It’s been years, so don’t pretend you suddenly love me again… or for the first time or whatever the hell this is supposed to be. I’m happy with my life. Maybe you need to figure out what will make you happy with yours.”

“You would,” Amanda said so desperately Gus almost believed her. But, even if she did believe her, it would not matter.

“Then you need to reevaluate your life. I’m off the market. Now, put your coat on and leave. I have work to do.” Gus focused on papers on her desk. As far as she was concerned, the conversation was over. This whole whatever it was finished.

“Gus, how could you just not love me anymore? How?” Amanda begged to know.

“The short answer is you broke my heart and someone better put it back together. That’s all we have time for. Now, please, leave.”

Gus refused to look up at Amanda again. She heard a whimper, but did not say anything. She also heard the shuffling of clothing, but still did not glance up, partly in fear that Amanda was removing clothes instead of putting them on.  Only when the door opened and closed did hazel eyes dare look up. Thankfully, Gus was now alone.

“I hope this means she got the message,” Gus muttered. Suddenly, she frowned. Amanda was too melodramatic to let this be the end of things. “She better not do something else even crazier than this.”

If Amanda tried something even worse, Gus figured she would just have to tell her ex off. Amanda reacted to the truth. She would just give Amanda more of the same if she came around again.

“No mercy,” Gus promised, just like Amanda. She was tired of being the only one wounded between them.

-8-8-8-8-

Jayce sat on the couch with her computer, finalizing figures while Gus-Gus played on the living room floor. Every now and then, she glanced down at him. He was content, smashing around a large dump truck and several of his smaller cars. Sometimes, he ran the toys into the sofa or the table, but as long as he did not do it too hard, she allowed it.

“Gus-Gus, don’t tell your papa, but we are going to have a great time,” Jayce said with a grin.

Gus-Gus looked up, completely unaware of what his mother meant. Jayce made sure it stayed that way. There was no telling what the children might say or when they might say it. They had learned that the hard way.

She had already planned out their anniversary trip. Her spies, Helena and Trevor, did not have much on what Gus planned, so Jayce was confident she would not ruin anything from Gus. Unless, of course, Gus was playing things extremely close to the vest. If that was the case, and it every well could be because Gus had done that in the past, then things could still go sideways. She hoped everything went according to plan.

“Gus-Gus, lets hope your Papa didn’t go overboard without bragging about it this time,” Jayce commented.

Before she could fret over things, a knock at the door distracted her. Glancing at the clock, she wondered who it was at eleven in the morning. It could be Trevor, but he usually spent this time writing and it was unlike him to come over without checking to see if she was busy. Glancing over, she looked at her cell phone display, but saw there were no missed calls or waiting texts.

“Who could it be then?” Jayce mumbled, pulling herself off of the couch. Part of her feared it was her brother. It troubled her that he might know where they lived. He could be lurking around any time. Of course, he was very unlikely to knock if he was lurking.

There was another, harder knock by the time Jayce got to the door. She looked through the peephole, seeing it was a woman at the door. She did not know the woman, but was certain she looked familiar. She opened the door before the woman knocked again.

“Hello, may I help you?” Jayce asked with a polite smile.

The woman smiled back, flashing perfect, straight white teeth. Her skin and makeup were perfect, along with her dark, streaked hair. She was the very definition of glamorous.

“Hi, I’m looking for Gus,” she said in a voice as sweet as honey.

Jayce’s brow wrinkled slightly. _Who comes looking for Gus at eleven in the morning on a weekday?_ Something was not adding up. The woman smiled a little more and set Jayce ill at ease.

“She’s not here right now,” Jayce said. She glanced into the house to make sure Gus-Gus was all right. He was using his cars to run over his action figures. She shifted to the side a little, wanting to be sure this woman could not see her son.

“Oh.” The woman pouted and her expression made Jayce’s teeth itch. “When can you expect her back?”

Jayce shrugged. “Whenever her workday is over. Maybe you should call her and find out when she plans to come in or set up a place to meet with her.”

For a brief moment, a smirk appeared on glistening lips. Now, Jayce really felt uneasy, especially when the pout was back in place. Something was really weird about her.

“I suppose I could do that. Thank you…” She said this as if she expected Jayce to fill in some information.

 “You’re welcome. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have things to do.” Jayce glanced at her son once more.

The woman smiled. “Of course. Thank you for your time. I’m Amanda by the way.”

“Amanda?” Jayce echoed with a frown and now she knew why the woman looked familiar. _Why the hell is Gus’ ex-wife around here?_

The smirk was back for a second. “Have you heard of me?” It was almost like she was proud.

“What do you want with Gus?” Jayce demanded, eyes narrowing on this woman.

“Maybe the question should be what does Gus want with me?” The smirk was there to stay now. The spark in her eyes was downright devilish.

“Gus doesn’t want anything to do with you.” She knew for a fact Gus never wanted to see this woman again.

Amanda chuckled a bit, showing off perfect cheekbones. “Are you sure about that? She didn’t say that at her office.”

Jayce bit back a growl. “You haven’t been to office.” She was sure everyone at Gus’ office would form a mob complete with pitchforks and torches if Amanda showed up there.

“Oh, but I have. A couple of times actually. I’ve called there a few times as well. Not that it’s any of your business.”

An eyebrow went up at the rude response. Jayce maintained her composure. “No, I suppose it’s not, but I assume she’s none of your business if you can’t get in touch with her.” _There is no way in Hell she’s been to the office and Gus did not tell me._

“Oh, but I have been in touch with her.” Amanda practically purred as a smile curled onto her face. 

Jayce frowned at the implications. “Why are you really here? We both know you haven’t touched Gus and you haven’t been to her office.”

Amanda chuckled again, sounding even more wicked than before. “But, that’s where you’re wrong. I have been there, but I guess she didn’t tell you.”

Jayce dared to wonder if it was true. If it was, she tried to assure herself there had to be very good reasons for why Gus did not tell her. Still, this bothered her, but she would not let Amanda know. After all, it was clear this woman just wanted to start trouble.

“Be that as it may, Gus isn’t here. I have other matters to tend to,” Jayce said. “So, good day.”

“Other matters? Like your son?” Amanda asked. Something about the way that she said that rubbed Jayce the wrong way. It felt like an attack on her family. 

“Yes, my son. And Gus’ son. Our child. Something I doubt you know anything about. We have a wonderful family together and you showing up here won’t change that.”

The smirk made a return, as did the evil gleam in Amanda’s eyes. “We’ll see about that.”

Jayce shut the door at the challenge. She did not care to hear anymore lies or implications. She would talk to Gus when she came in and straighten this whole matter out. For now, she had to focus on her son, who was completely naked. Jayce sighed.

“I expected as much since I left him alone,” Jayce muttered.

“Mommy, look!” Gus-Gus threw his hands up in celebration.

“Come on, you little escape artist. Let’s get you back into your gear.”

Gus-Gus giggled and threw his clothes behind the couch. Jayce fought off a smile and their usual struggle began. Jayce wondered if her son’s nudist ways were actually part of some game that only he was aware.

As she chased the tittering toddler, Jayce’s thoughts strayed to Gus and Amanda. She wondered why Gus had not mentioned Amanda being in town or Amanda coming up to her office. She wondered how much Amanda said was true.

Jayce did not think any of the innuendo was true. Amanda left way too bad a taste in Gus’ mouth for her to do anything with Amanda. But, seeing Amanda in person was almost enough for her to reconsider. The woman was beyond stunning. Gus may have considered whatever Amanda offered, but Jayce was sure her wife would never go back. Amanda had hurt her too much and had refused Gus everything she wanted in life.

“But, why wouldn’t Gus mention Amanda?” Jayce wondered aloud, finally catching her little boy.

“Mommy!” the toddler giggled as he tried to wiggle free.

“No, you don’t,” Jayce said, tickling him.

Gus-Gus laughed and tried to get away even more. She managed to get him dressed for the fourth time that day and released him back into the wild of the living room. She went to double check her effort on the trip.

“How long has Amanda been around? Is this why Gus hasn’t bothered to plan anything for over anniversary? She’s too busy running around with Amanda?”

Jayce tried not to think about. She moved on from their anniversary to Octie’s class activities. They had a trip coming up soon to a local children’s museum that Octie had already been to. She would go with them to lend a hand provided Ms. Pipin did not mind Gus-Gus tagging along.

She played around with Gus-Gus a bit and fed him lunch before he eventually dropped into his afternoon nap. Still, she found things to occupy her time and keep her mind from betraying her. Before long, it was time to pick up Octie and spend the afternoon in the park. This was great to keep her mind off of more unpleasant matters.

-8-8-8-8- 

Jayce was on the phone when Gus came in. As soon as her wife stepped through the door, Jayce remembered what she had gone through great lengths to forget. She frowned at Gus before she could help herself. Gus’ brow wrinkled and she looked understandably bemused. Jayce turned away, going the dining room to finish her call.

Jayce’s stomach flipped as she wondered why Gus failed to mention the reappearance of her ex-wife. Here Jayce was busting her ass to plan the perfect anniversary and Gus was hiding things from her, important things. Shaking that away, she needed to maintain her cool while the kids were around.

“So, who was that on the phone?” Gus asked when Jayce joined the family in the living room.

“Nothing, just business,” Jayce replied. Her voice sounded clipped even to her own ears, which had not been her intent, but she was already wound up.

Gus frowned, as she tended to do when Jayce gave her such wishy-washy answers. Jayce hated to lie, but it would be impossible to keep things a surprise without lies. The necessary evil was exhausting and she hated the way Gus looked at her after each one, like she knew this was not the truth. She could only wonder what went through Gus’ mind with each lie she told.

“So, I was thinking of making fish for dinner tomorrow,” Jayce said, hoping to dispel some rising tension.

“You want me to pick it up?” Gus’ voice was almost indifferent.

“If you would. They’re usually closed by the time you get here, so I don’t think I’d make it,” Jayce explained rather unnecessarily. After all, they went through this whenever they had fish.

Gus eyed her as if she had grown an extra head, but she ignored that. They continued on with their night, tension continuing to rise. She had things she wanted to address and Gus kept looking at her like she did when Jayce lied about the phone call. _We’re both keeping things from each other. I have to for a little while longer because I really think this will be great, but why won’t she tell me about Amanda._

Things did not get any better when they put the kids to bed. Usually, they enjoyed the free couple of hours they got together, but the tension was so pressing it was hard to get comfortable. Somehow, they ended up watching some movie Jayce could not even pay attention to because they were on opposite ends of the couch. Jayce was not even sure how they ended up like that.

“Baby, what’s going on?” Jayce decided to ask, turning to face Gus.

“You tell me. You’re the one acting like I killed your best friend. Are you pissed at me over your brother?”

“No, no, no. You were right in the way we handled Q and I hope he doesn’t come back around until he’s better. I don’t want him scaring Octie again or worse.”

Gus nodded, but frowned slightly. “Then what’s up?”

“I was going to ask you the same thing. Are you upset with me? Is it because of the way I handled Q?”

Gus shook her head. “Look as long as this business with Quentin is out of the way, I really don’t care. I feel like if it comes up again, we’ll handle it. I know you’re going to have a soft spot for him. He’s your brother. That’s just how it is. But, you see we work best when we handle stuff together, so there’s that, too.”

Jayce scowled a little, feeling her forehead wrinkle. “Then what is it? Why does it feel like there’s a thing between us now?”

Gus frowned more now. “Because there are things being kept secret.”

Jayce took this as an admission on Gus’ part. “Are you ready to discuss what’s being kept secret and why?”

“I guess that depends on you.”

“I’m ready. I want to know,” Jayce stated.

Gus’ chocolate brow furrowed. “Know what?”

“I want to know why you haven’t mentioned Amanda,” Jayce said, curious as to what else she could possibly mean.

Gus reeled back. “What the hell does Amanda have to do with anything?” 

“Other than the fact that she was here this morning?” Jayce growled.

“Here this morning? What the hell was she doing here?” Gus demanded, lightly hitting her knee.

“She claimed to be looking for you, but she was clearly trying to start something, which is going to work because what the hell, Gus? When the hell were you going to mention she was back?” Jayce threw her hands up.

“It’s none of your business,” Gus stated and then must have realized what she said because she flinched. “Jayce…”

Jayce shook her head. “No, it’s none of my business that my wife’s ex-wife is knocking at our door asking for her or going up to her office. None of my business at all.” She threw her hands up again and gnashed her teeth.

“I didn’t mean it like that and you’re one to talk,” Gus huffed.

Jayce folded her arms across her chest and arched an eyebrow. “And what is that supposed to mean?”

“You obviously think something’s going on with me and Amanda, but what about you?” Gus pointed an accusing finger at her.

“What about me, Gus?” Jayce demanded, narrowing her gaze on her wife. _Does this nutty woman actually think I’m doing something behind her back?_

“You’re always on the phone when I come in now and we both it’s not for work like you claim.” Gus hit the sofa cushion with her palm before jumping to her feet.

“And what, your mind automatically jumps to I’m cheating on you?”

Gus threw her arms out to the side. “You’re obviously doing something behind my back.”

Jayce jumped to her feet as well, but remained at her end of the couch. “Yeah, but it’s not cheating. Do you honestly think I have the time or energy to cheat?” Jayce had the kids all day. She cooked, cleaned, and occasionally did some accounting. “And even if I did have either of those, you don’t think I’m with you for the long haul?”

Gus sniffed. “Yeah, well, I’ve heard it all before. Don’t act like you haven’t flirted with people when you thought I wasn’t looking.”

Jayce could not believe what she was hearing and gestured to her chest with both hands. “Who the hell do you think I’m flirting with?” She realized she knew where this was coming from. “You actually think I take my vows as loosely as Amanda took hers. So, is that why some days you just pop up? It’s not that you were thinking of me or you missed us, but you’re actually checking up on me.” Jayce wished her glared could strike her wife with lightning. _How dare Gus think so poorly of me!_

“Jayce, it wasn’t like that.”

Jayce rolled her eyes. “I’m sure it wasn’t. Just like it’s none of my business that Amanda is around. What the hell am I supposed to think Gus? Maybe you have a guilty conscience and that’s where this is all coming from. You’re out there flirting, Gus?” She stomped closer to her spouse, causing Gus to back up. “Is that it? You’re the one hiding your ex-wife. How long has Amanda been around, Gus? How often have you seen her?”

Gus bristled. “You cannot be serious! Do honestly believe I’d touch that dirty bitch after everything she’s done?”

“You were married to her. I’m sure you still have some emotions toward her.”

“Yes, hatred!” Gus curled her fingers as if they were talons. “Pure and utter loathing! I have no interest in Amanda and I can’t believe you’d think otherwise. What the hell is wrong with you?”

Rolling her eyes, Jayce scoffed. “What the hell is wrong with me asks the woman who has accused me of cheating!”

“Because you’re always on the goddamn phone and you still won’t tell me who the hell you’re talking to!”

Jayce was tempted, very tempted, to tell. Gus would certainly feel like an idiot, but she refused to let one fight – no matter how infuriating and insulting – ruin something she worked so hard on. Just because they were fighting now did not mean they would be during their anniversary.

“Because I expect you to trust me,” Jayce huffed.

“How can I trust you if you lie to my face?” Gus snarled.

“The same way I trust you when you lie by omission. The same way I can still trust you when you tell me something is none of my business. But, now it’s very hard when you show me how little you think of me. But, then again, I’m just the lying bitch who used to date your little sister, right? Completely worthless and untrustworthy.” Jayce bit back a sob and rushed upstairs, into their bedroom, not wanting Gus to know how crushed she was.

“Jay.” Gus chased after her, but Jayce ran into their bathroom. She slammed and locked the door before Gus could get to her.

As soon as she was safe behind closed doors, Jayce unleashed a torrent of sobs. She could not believe, could not fathom Gus of all people thinking so little of her. How could her own wife, the person’s whose opinion mattered the most think the least of her now? What the hell happened to them? _Maybe this was always there, just under the surface_.

“Maybe I was always just a rebound girl,” Jayce grumbled as tears poured down her face.

“Jayce, baby, open the door,” Gus said in a hard tone. “You can’t just run away from this.”

“Just go away, Gus. I don’t want to hear any more about now horrible I am. I get it. I get it,” Jayce sighed. Life had taught her this particular lesson many times. She was not worth the effort.

“Crying doesn’t make you right, Jay,” Gus called through the door. “You’re not the victim all the time. You’re the one with the secret phone calls. You’re the one flirting. You’re the one that hurt me. God, you called your stupid brother Octie’s father. Do you know how much that hurt? I didn’t run off crying in the bathroom. I’m hurt, too.” Gus’ voice cracked.

Jayce felt Gus’ sorrow slice through her. She had hurt Gus. No, she had not cheated, but she had lied and she had acted stupidly with her brother. She had hurt the one of sweetest women she had ever met. She had hurt her children’s mother. As far as she was concerned, she was worthless.

Jayce remained silent, crying to herself. She needed to get that out before she could vaguely attempt communication. She was not sure how long she sat their crying, but a tiny knock at the door got her attention.

“Mommy?” Octie called.

“Yes, baby?” Jayce replied, her voice low and rough.

“You gonna come out?”

“Yes, I will. Give me a moment.” Jayce climbed to her feet, washed her face and got herself together as best she could. Looking in the mirror, she felt she was as presentable as she would get. She exited the bathroom.

“Mommy, you okay?” Octie asked with wide, dark innocent eyes.

“I’m fine, sweetie. Do you need something?” Jayce forced out a smile.

“I couldn’t sleep. Will you and Papa watch the night-night show with me?”

“Of course. Is there a reason you couldn’t sleep?” She feared Octie heard their fight.

Octie shook her head. “Just thinking. Are we gonna have a Halloween party?”

“We have to talk to Papa about it.”

Octie nodded and did not ask where her papa was. They made their way downstairs, as the “night-night show” needed to be watched on the living room sofa while cuddling in order to work. Gus was on the couch already and Jayce wondered if Octie knew that. _Is this a set up?_

If it was a set up, it was a good one for someone who had not turned seven yet.  But, it also did not work. Octie tried talking to her parents, probably sensing their tension, but she was much too tired to say anything coherent. Jayce and Gus ignored each other for the night while Octie fell asleep to the movie, which the kids always did, hence it being hailed the ‘‘night-night show.” Gus actually slept on the couch that night. It was a first. Jayce wondered if it was the end.

-8-8-8-8- 

Next time: find out if this is the end.


	9. Work

9: Work

The morning was tense and awkward. Gus had to fight every instinct in her body to comfort Jayce, who looked so tired and beaten as she served breakfast. Octie seemed to notice and watched each parent with a careful eye. Gus wanted to make up just to get their happy home back.

But, she kept remembering Jayce accusing _her_ of cheating, and with Amanda of all people. The insanity of it all! Jayce was the one hiding phones, flirting, and with tons of free time. She loved Jayce with all of her heart and would never think to cheat on her. She loved their family and would never damage it.

Breakfast was somber and Octie showed a nervous habit. The child talked through the whole meal, needing to fill the thick silence with something. She and Jayce engaged both children, but not each other. Gus was never so happy as to walk out the door for work. 

“Papa,” Octie said as Gus strapped her in. A small frown marred Octie’s cute, chocolate features.

“Yes, Princess?”

“How come you and Mommy are mad at each other?”

Gus paused, wishing Octie was less perceptive at the moment. She did not want the children upset, even if she was livid. Livid to the point that she considered hiring their private investigator again, if only to prove she was not the crazy person Jayce tried to make her out to be. She would show Jayce the proof and then…

“Papa?” Octie said, drawing Gus’ attention back to her.

Gus blinked and decided to stall for time to think of an answer. “What makes you think we’re mad at each other, kiddo?”

“Because you didn’t say nothing to each other and you didn’t do kissy face goodbyes or say the I love yous.”

 _Damn_. Octie had picked up on everything. Gus finished strapping Octie in and climbed in the driver’s seat. Octie patiently waited for her answer.

“Baby, you know how sometimes the little emperor takes your stuff and you get mad?”

“Yeah.” She did not elaborate, waiting for the next part.

“But, you never stay mad, right?”

“Right.” Octie’s brow furrowed. “Did Mommy take your stuff? She’ll give it back if you ask nicely.”

Gus laughed. “I know. Mommy and I just disagreed about something.”

“Like what TV show to watch? Because if you ask nicely with please,” Octie said in a slightly sing song tone.

Gus could not help laughing again. “I know. It’ll be all right.” She was not sure how, but things had to be all right eventually. They had kids. They were a family.

“Especially if you remember please and thank you.” Octie smiled.

“Of course.”

“Or if Mommy makes pancakes. That always makes everybody feel better.”

Gus grinned. “That it does.” She wished pancakes could fix this.

She dropped Octie off. The child gave her an encouraging smile and Gus kissed the top of her head. Octie giggled and disappeared into the school. Gus sighed and headed to work, but did not make it that far. She ended up at her spa, which could count as work, but she almost never went there on business since her sister ran the place well.

“Gus!” Jannie smiled and rushed her older sister, pulling her for a hug.

“Hey, Jannie,” Gus replied in a subdued tone.

“What happened? Where’s my potatoes?” Jannie looked around for her niece and nephew, her “spuds.”

“School and home.”

Jannie pouted. “I guess I’ll see them soon enough.”

This struck Gus as odd, but she supposed Jannie might be planning to come over soon. It had been a couple of months. She shook that away. It was not important.

“So, what’s up? Is this a business visit?” Jannie inquired with serious expression. It was nice that Jannie was always ready to talk business. It was a change from her other managers, who always liked to pretend they were friends first.

“No.”

“Let’s go to my office then,” Jannie suggested.

Gus only nodded and walked with Jannie to the office without even looking around the spa. Jannie managed this business extreme well and enjoyed every moment of it from what Gus could tell. Business had been increasing, along with profits, since Jannie took over after graduating college. It seemed like a lifetime ago. Maybe it was a lifetime ago.

“So, what’s up?” Jannie asked as Gus flopped down on the small sofa in the office, which was about the size of a regular room. Jannie went to her fridge. “You want some yogurt?”

“I just had a full breakfast,” Gus answered.

Jannie chuckled as she grabbed some yogurt for herself. “Oh, right. Jayce would never let anyone leave her house without eating a proper meal. Is it crazy that I want to find a girlfriend just like Jayce now?” She laughed again, but this one was a little more forced. Tearing open the foil on the top of her yogurt seemed to be a good enough reason for her to stop.

“You’re more mature than you were all of those years ago,” Gus pointed out. A girl like Jayce was probably just what Jannie needed now. While she still had a taste for the finer things, she did not need to be romanced with constant expensive dates out and grand gestures.

“Yeah, but I feel like an idiot now,” Jannie sighed as she flopped down in the chair behind her desk. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I don’t want Jayce or anything.” She held her hands up in defeat.

Gus snorted. “You could probably have her if you wanted.”

Jannie’s brow wrinkled. “What the hell are you going on about?” She grabbed a spoon and savored the first taste of what was probably her breakfast.

Gus sighed and scratched her eyebrow with her pinkie while throwing her head back. She could feel her little sister staring a hole through her. She might as well say it. It was why she came here instead of going to her software company.

“I think… I think Jayce is cheating.”

Jannie burst out laughing until Gus glared at her. “Oh, you’re serious. Wait, you’re serious? How can you be serious? I mean, this is Jayce!” She stared at Gus as if she could not figure out who Gus was. She put the yogurt cup down on her desk and focused on her older sister.

“So? It’s not like she’d be the first person to cheat on me,” Gus grumbled.

Jannie frowned. “Is this some Amanda bullshit?”

“No, Amanda doesn’t have anything to do with this and how the hell can Jayce think she does?” Gus huffed.

Jannie’s face scrunched up. “Wait… wait… am I going to need a scorecard already? Why the hell would Jayce bring up Amanda?”

Gus sighed and rubbed her forehead, hoping it would keep a headache from coming on. “Amanda’s in town and she went by the house.”

“What the fuck? When did Amanda get to town?” Jannie demanded, her eyebrows coming close together as a frown settled on her face. “Where the hell is she staying? I still owe her for how she treated you. I think I’ll buy a bat on the way to wherever the hell she’s staying.”

Gus waved her sister off. “Calm down. You don’t need to do anything about Amanda. I handled her.”

Jannie offered her a skeptical look, drawing her mouth up and to the side. “Handled her how?” She arched an eyebrow.

“I told her just how I felt and how it was.”

Jannie scoffed. “You really think that shit worked? Amanda is a vampire and you’re the prime warm body she wants to drain. She’s not just going to go away because you tell her to.”

“Look, I handled her.” Gus pointed down to the floor to emphasis her point. “I know what I’m doing.”

Jannie gave her another leveled look. “So, did you tell Jayce how you handled her?”

Gus frowned and wished she did not have to admit the next thing. “I told Jayce it wasn’t any of her business.”

Hazel eyes went wide and Jannie gasped. “You did not! Of course this was her business. What the hell is wrong with you, Gus? You guys are a team. Amanda shows up and you suddenly forget that?”

“I didn’t forget that. Look, you’re off topic. Jayce is probably cheating on me.”

“Bullshit.”

“She flirts all the time!”

Jannie rubbed her face with one hand, like she could not believe what she was hearing. “She flirts?” Jannie opened her mouth and then closed it. She took a deep breath. “What else makes you think she’s cheating?”

“She’s been taking phone calls in secret and she accused me of cheating with Amanda instead of answering me when I asked her if she was cheating.”

Jannie rubbed her face again. “Okay, so, this is really weak evidence. Jayce is friendly, but she doesn’t flirt. I can’t tell you about the phone calls, but I promise you she’s not cheating on you. In fact, if you weren’t busy going crazy, you’d probably figure out what she’s doing pretty easily.”

Gus scowled. “What the hell do you mean? You know what’s going on?”

“I know you’re scared, Gus.”

Gus growled. “Scared of what?”

“Scared of the four year mark. You think time’s up, but you have to remember Jayce isn’t Amanda. Plus, just because you found out about Amanda in year four doesn’t mean her antics started then.”

Gus ground her teeth together for a moment. “This doesn’t have anything to do with Amanda. I know Jayce isn’t like her.”

“But, do you really? Gus, I know you put on a strong face. You’ve had to do it since Mom and Dad died. You’re used to being the strong one, but I know you have insecurities and most of them are because of Amanda. Don’t let her shadow ruin this wonderful thing you made for yourself with Jayce. You know deep down that Jayce would never do what you’re saying.”

Gus shook her head. “The calls…”

“Aren’t what you think they are. They’re not. The flirting doesn’t even exist.”

“But, sometimes in the park…” Gus trailed off, thinking about all of those little moments. Nothing seemed to stand out now. Little touches she had read too much into before seem innocent enough now. Besides, Jayce would never be so bold as to do this right in front of her. That just was not who Jayce was. She knew Jayce.

“Search your heart, Gus. Do you really want to ruin this marriage because you’re scared she’s going to end it?”

“Jayce wouldn’t…” Gus’ stomach twisted. Jayce would never end their marriage. Jayce would never ruin their family. She mattered to Jayce. _And if that’s the case, Jayce would never cheat._

“No, she wouldn’t. She loves you, loves you in ways Amanda couldn’t fathom existed. Four years couldn’t be enough for Jayce. This woman carried your son for you. Eighteen hours of labor, Gus. Eighteen,” Jannie said with a smile.

Gus chuckled. She remembered when Jayce was pregnant. She had been miserable. Morning sickness had carried all the way through her pregnancy and Gus-Gus stayed beyond the due date until labor had to be induced. His birth had been one of the happiest days of Gus’ life and the joy on Jayce’s tired face had been unmistakable. Gus would never forget how her eyes shined when he was placed in Jayce’s arms. Jayce had looked at her and simply said, “I think our family’s complete now.” Gus could only agree.

Gus’ heart thumped heavy in her chest at the memory. It hurt to realize what she put Jayce through now. This woman who bore her son, who made a family with her, and had brought her happiness she could scarcely describe, how could she hurt Jayce like that? She sighed and rubbed her face with both hands.

“Am I really crazy? Have I really let Amanda get under my skin like this?” It took all of Gus’ willpower to keep her voice from trembling.

“Yeah, you did. But, you know, this is Amanda. She was always in your head. That’s why she was able to get away with her shit for so long, but Jayce is in your heart. Your heart knows.”

“How do I fix this shit, though?”

Jannie scoffed. “You’re the one who’s had several long term relationships. You should know. I don’t know shit about it. My longest relationship was with Jayce and we all know how that worked.” She let loose a light chuckle and finally picked up her yogurt again.

Gus managed a small laugh. “I guess you’re right about that.”

“I think Jayce would appreciate you just apologizing and talking to her. Sure, it won’t get you off of the hook, but it’ll start the healing process, which is better.” Jannie dug into her yogurt.

Gus nodded. “I can’t believe I messed up this bad.”

“I can.”

“What?” Gus glared at her sister, feeling quite insulted.

“Gus, you carry the weight of the world on your shoulders when you don’t need to. You’re going to crack eventually. That’s just the nature of structures. But, you don’t need to stand alone anymore. You got Jayce and you got me. I mean, I’m not a little kid anymore and Jayce isn’t broken anymore. We’re here.”

Gus sighed. “I know.” And she did know, but she was so used to taking care of everyone. She _liked_ taking care of everyone. “I just… I enjoy my role.”

“Well then, enjoy a nervous breakdown every couple of years. You’ve already gone crazy. You want this to happen again?”

Gus frowned. Of course, she did not want this to happen again. This was Hell. So, in order to avoid this Hell again, she would have to let loose a bit. She would definitely need to reevaluate Amanda’s hold on her. She truly thought she was over her.

“So, what’s it’s going to be?” Jannie asked with a daring eyebrow arched. It might have had more of an effect if she did not have a spoon dangling from her lips.

“How do I really get Amanda out of my system?” Gus wondered aloud.

“I think you have. Now, what you need to do is get the foul taste she left behind out of your mouth. You still believe you’re expendable, which isn’t true. You’re vital and Jayce knows that,” Jannie assured her.

Gus nodded as she climbed to her feet and took a deep breath. She knew what she had to do. Going over to Jannie, she hugged her little sister. “Thank you for this.”

“Hey, I want the best for you and that’s Jayce. Besides, my spuds deserve two functioning loving parents.” Jannie smiled.

“You’ve come such a long way. I’m happy you matured, just like I knew you would.”

Jannie grinned. “I’m glad you’re proud of me. I know it was tough going at first and some of the things looking back on, I’m not proud of, but I think I turned out okay.”

Gus patted Jannie’s head, careful of her well-done hair. “You did.”

“Now, I just need to find my Jayce, which is funny since Jayce was mine first,” Jannie teased.

Gus glared at her sister. They did not usually discuss how all of those years ago Jannie and Jayce were once a couple. It was a little creepy between all of them and not particularly a happy time for Jayce. Jannie had grown up a lot since then and Jayce would say so, but when they had dated, Jannie had been a right brat.

“Right. Forget I said anything.” Jannie held up her hands in surrender. “Shouldn’t you get going? I mean, you have a lot of groveling to do. More than you think if I understand the situation the way I think I do.”

Gus arched an eyebrow to this. “What do you mean?”

“Oh, believe me, you’ll know what I mean.”

“So, why not just tell me?”

“Because it’ll piss you off and make you panic. You need a clear head right now. I’ll tell you later if you don’t remember.”

Gus frowned, but doubted she would get much more from her sister. She had actually gotten much more than she bargained for already, so she would be thankful for that. Now, she had to start setting things right.

“I’ll see you later, Jannie. Thanks for everything,” Gus said.

Jannie scoffed. “After everything you’ve done for me? I’m happy to do something for you. Please, don’t hesitate to come to me.”

“I won’t. You’re right. I have to accept I have people that can help and you’re one of those people.” Gus thought about how she might be able to use Jannie again considering how she had to make up with Jayce. “You think you can watch the kids for a while without one of them getting sick?”

Jannie chuckled. “You really need to talk to Jayce. If you need me to watch my spuds, I will. I’ve got tons of stuff for them to do at the condo.”

Gus thought that was odd, but did not say anything. Jannie was a good aunt, loving both Octie and Gus-Gus with every bit of affection she could possess, which was a turn from when it was just Octie and she was a baby. But, Jannie had grown and enjoyed being an aunt. Still, she was not usually one to watch the kids on her own or at her home. She would take them out or show up at the house, but her condo was definitely a bachelor pad. Gus wondered why she suddenly had a bunch of things for the kids to do at the condo.

The sisters hugged again before Gus left. She called the office to let them know she would not be in. They could function without her and probably guessed she was not coming in when they showed up and she was not there, but it was always best to let them know. With that out of the way, she had a lot of shopping to do.

-8-8-8-8-

Jayce set down two cups of tea while Trevor kept Gus-Gus occupied. She would have preferred to have this discussion with Helena, but Helena was determined to work until her baby boy made his debut into the world. Jayce sat down on the couch.

“Sorry to call you like this,” Jayce apologized.

“It’s okay. I can be your stand-in Helena. I am a Helena expert, so I can give the same answers almost ninety nine point nine percent of the time,” Trevor remarked with a grin. He crashed his big dump truck into Gus-Gus’ monster truck once more, earning giggles from the boy.

Jayce forced out a laugh. “Oh, yeah? I’m disappointed you’re not more accurate.”

Trevor grinned. “We can’t all be perfect. Now, tell me what’s going on? Your face is longer than pulled rubber.”

Jayce sighed. She had been attempting to look normal. “Trevor, how do you keep Helena from thinking you’re cheating on her? You have time, opportunity, and plenty of female friends.”

Trevor’s expression fell a bit. “I don’t really ‘do’ anything. She used to doubt, especially when we moved here. But, she knows me and trusts me. If she still has doubts, she’s never said anything.”

Nodding, Jayce chuckled. “She thinks the rumors are funny at this point.”

“Yeah, we usually have a good laugh off of them. So, Gus thinks you’re cheating?”

Jayce shrugged. “I’m not sure if she really thinks that or if she’s reacting to a lot of other things and the stress came out in that crazy way. I doubt I made it any better.”

“What did you do?”

“Well, she kept it from me that her ex-wife has been sniffing around her. I found out from Amanda, the ex. So, when Gus accused me, I said she had a guilty conscience and accused right back.”

Trevor let an exaggerated wince go through his face. “Definitely not the most productive thing, but okay. Do you believe that?”

Jayce shook her head and put a hand to her chest. “In my heart, never. My head doesn’t know what to believe because it’s spinning. I don’t understand why she wouldn’t tell me about her ex wife being around.”

“Sure you can.”

Jayce’s face scrunched up. “I can?”

Scoffing, he rolled his eyes. “Yes, you can. This is Gus.”

Jayce just stared at him with a furrowed brow. He stared back. _This is Gus?_ She knew it was Gus. Gus, her wife, who talked to her about everything, who planned things out with her, who protected her. _Oh_.

“The big idiot thought she was protecting me,” Jayce groaned, putting a hand over her eyes for a moment.

“Sounds like her,” Trevor agreed.

“So, she doesn’t tell me about Amanda to protect me, but she still did accuse me of cheating.”

He nodded. “And you accused her.”

“Well, I was upset that she accused me.”

He shrugged. “Maybe she was upset as well. Maybe her doing all of this actually had nothing to do with you.”

“Her being mad about something else is possible, but she wouldn’t take it out on me unless it had something to do with me.”

“If nothing else then, you’ll have to talk it out with her. I don’t see why she would think you’re cheating, though. It’s probably just stress,” Trevor said with a wave of his head.

Jayce nodded and decided to drink some of her tea while it was still hot. She had hoped stress was the reason why Gus said what she did, but she feared Gus truly believed the things she said last night. Gus thought so little of her and maybe she helped get Gus there. After all, she relied on Gus for everything, but she thought Gus understood she was appreciated it. _What else could I do to let her know I appreciate her?_

“Look, I don’t think you should worry about it. I mean, you and Gus are annoyingly in love, even now. You had a fight. It happens,” Trevor said.

Trevor had known her for years now, so he knew she had a tendency to worry. Jayce had faith in Gus, believed Gus would never leave her, but there were times when her faith was rocked. Fighting to her, always led to bad places. She knew these were mental scars left by her mother, but she could not shake them now. So, any fight with Gus left a bad taste in her mouth. This one had done much more.

“Do you think I should cancel the anniversary plans?” Jayce asked quietly.

Trevor scoffed. “No. You guys are going to have a great anniversary as soon as you put this crap behind you. You shouldn’t just give up after one fight. It was just one fight.”

Sighing, Jayce nodded. It was one fight, but it felt like so much more. It felt like something that had built between them. Maybe it started with Quentin or maybe it was before that. Maybe this was something so much larger than it seemed. It could not really be just one fight, not with the way Gus ignored her that morning, not with the way Gus had accused her last night, and not with the way the world had been falling apart for them since Quentin showed up.

“Jayce, seriously, one fight isn’t the end of the world, even if she did accuse you of cheating and she didn’t tell you about her ex-wife. Trust me. Do you know many times Helena had barked on me when we moved here because of the rumors? I was sleeping on the couch at times because she didn’t know what to make of things. And, yeah, I got pissed whenever she believed those stupid rumors, but I got over it. She got over it. It’s not the end of the world. We’re still married. We’re still happy and we got this other little guy about to show up soon. We’re fine. You’ll be fine.”

Jayce nodded. She wanted to believe him, especially since she knew for a fact he and Helena went through things like this all of the time. If Helena could be reasoned with, then surely Gus could. Things should be all right.

“Do I owe her an apology?” Jayce felt as if she did, but then again, she wondered if this was her trauma speaking or real guilt.

“Maybe a little less than she owes you one, but make sure you apologize for the right thing. Don’t apologize for being friendly to people. I used to do that until I started to realize Helena was controlling who I was friends with. It wasn’t something she meant to do, but she was so paranoid and then I got paranoid and things got crazy.”

“Okay.” She doubted Gus would try to control who she was friends with, but then again, she never would have thought Gus was crazy enough to think she was cheating, so who knew what might happen.

“Trust me, it’ll be fine. You want me to take the kids when she gets home, so you two can talk?” he offered.

“I really appreciate it. Are you sure, though? Helena’s not gonna be happy to waddle in and find extra kids at home.”

Trevor chuckled. “She’ll be too tired to notice. Besides, Travis and Octie are so freaking well behaved around her they’re like different kids. We told them they had to be angels because she’s expecting the baby soon and any bad behavior could be bad for the baby or Helena.”

Jayce smiled. Both of the children were fascinated by the unborn baby and liked to ask if there were any ways they could help Helena. Gus-Gus had been fascinated when Helena started showing, but quickly lost interest, not totally understanding what was happening. He was the baby as far as he was concerned.

“It’ll be fine,” Trevor tried to assure her once more. She wished she believed him this time around.

-8-8-8-8-

Gus came home to a quiet house. It was Gus-Gus’ naptime. She held a bouquet of red roses and white lilies – the lilies being Jayce’s favorite flowers – long with a small jewelry box that was secure in her pocket. She knew these would not make up for what she said, but it was a start.

Moving into the living room, she found Jayce on her laptop. As soon as she stepped further inside, Jayce noticed her and gave her a long glance before turning back to the laptop. Slowly, she closed the computer, as if making a show of it. Gus was not sure why. Maybe it was a taunt or maybe it was to avoid being suspicious.

“You’re home early,” Jayce said in a neutral tone, still not looking at Gus.

“Yeah,” Gus agreed with the obvious. “Look, I wanted to talk about last night… and apologize about last night.” She held up the flowers.

This got Jayce to turn to her at least. “We do need to talk.”

Nibbling her bottom lip, Gus gathered her courage and sat down. She handed Jayce the flowers and her heart thumped when Jayce accepted them. She felt better when Jayce cradled the bouquet like she would with any others.

“They’re beautiful,” Jayce muttered. She sounded a little touched, which was good.

“I know it doesn’t make up for the cruel things I said last night, but I want you to know I am sorry. I just wasn’t thinking… or I was thinking, but I was thinking too much and about all of the wrong things,” Gus said.

“I need to know, Gus. Do you honestly, truly think I would cheat on you? Ever?” Jayce asked in a low voice.

Gus sighed and reached out to pat Jayce’s knee. She felt good when Jayce did not pull away. “No. I know you’d never hurt our family or hurt me like that.”

“Then why would you say it?” Jayce begged to know, tears gathering in her eyes. “Why would you accuse me of that? I’d never betray you and just the thought… the idea that you think I could, that I would… God, Gus, it hurts so much.”

Gus swallowed hard, hoping to get the lump out of her throat. She had vowed to protect and honor this beautiful woman before her and she had not only broken the vow, but was the one to crush her wife.

“Baby, I’m just… I don’t know. I’m all out of sorts. I’m scared… I’m scared you’re going to figure out I’m not worth it. Or you’ll find someone better and you’ll leave me,” Gus admitted.

Jayce sighed. “Gus, really? Who the hell can I find better than you?” she asked with a furrowed brow.

Gus’ eyes drifted to the floor and she balled her hands into fists. “Plenty of people. Surely you’re bored with me now.”

“Bored with you? Gus.” Jayce said the name in a scolding manner. Turning, she put down the flowers and took Gus’ hands into her own, holding them tight. “Gus, what would ever make you think that?”

“We’ve been together a long time…”

“A long time? Married for not even four years and seeing each other for not even six yet? This is a long time?” Dark eyes widened as if she had an epiphany. “Baby, this is about Amanda, isn’t it? You’re all knotted up over her.”

Gus frowned. “I wasn’t enough for her…”

“No, she wasn’t worthy of you, love. Look, you’ve speculated that she probably cheated on you throughout your marriage, maybe your whole relationship, but I haven’t and I won’t. We have a beautiful thing here and I love every moment of it. I love every moment with you.”

“But…” Gus took a deep breath. She believed Jayce, but there were still so many things that did not add up. “The phones calls…”

“Are for a surprise. I won’t say any more on the matter. Trust me on this,” Jayce stated soundly.

Gus nodded. “Do you realize we haven’t made love in weeks?”

Jayce blinked. “Yes, we have…” Pausing, she glanced down, probably calculating the time in her head. “Oh…”

“Yes, oh. I know we have the kids, but we’ve always had the kids and we still managed before. Now, weeks on end and nothing. And when I tried to arrange for time alone, you had all of these excuses.”

“And Amanda used to have excuses?” Jayce asked.

Gus shook her head. “I didn’t even think about that… not consciously anyway. But, yeah, Amanda had plenty of excuses and then when she finally blurted out how horrible she thought I was in bed, I thought… well, I’ve always thought maybe she was right. Maybe I am horrible and maybe you’ve come to realize that.” She glanced down, bracing for confirmation even now.

“And you thought I started trying on every woman around here on for size?” Jayce chuckled and ran her hand through Gus’ hair. “You silly, silly woman.”

Gus looked up and forced out a smile. “I do… satisfy you… right?”

“Very much so, love. I’m sorry about our… drought. I really didn’t realize it’s been so long. And then this thing with Quentin came up and I was so scared I failed Octie that I was caught up with that. I’m sorry.”

Gus nodded. “I know. I know.”

“I’m sorry for all of this stress that’s been on you, too. I know things haven’t been easy and I know I messed up early on with Q.”

Gus shook her head. “I know how things can be when it comes to siblings. Yes, I was upset a little, but I get it. I know you weren’t trying to replace me or anything as Octie’s parent. It was a bit hard to hear you call him her father and everything.”

Jayce clutched her hands again and kissed her knuckles. “I’m sorry about that. I know it was hard on you. I’m also sorry for accusing you of being with Amanda.”

Again, Gus shook her head. “I shouldn’t have kept her a secret. I just… I didn’t want to bother you with her. I didn’t want you to worry.”

“You don’t have to protect me from everything, Gus. I appreciate it, I do. But, we’re supposed to be a team, right? You got upset because I acted on my own with Q and now you’ve gone and done the same with Amanda,” Jayce pointed out.

“It’s not entirely the same thing,” Gus objected.

“When you get down to the bare bones of it, it is. We’re a team, but you acted on your own.”

Sighing, Gus dipped her head. She had acted on her own, made a decision that affected them on her own. It was like Jannie said, she had to remember that she had people now. She did not have to do everything on her own.

“Amanda’s in my head,” Gus admitted.

“I know.”

“But, I don’t want to get back with her and I would never sleep with her.”

Jayce nodded slowly. “I know.”

Gus arched an eyebrow. “You know?”

“I was upset with you when I accused you of a guilty conscience. Having the morning to think about it, I know you wouldn’t sleep with Amanda of all people.”

Gus managed a smile. “It’s good to know you trust me.”

“I trust you with everything, Gus. I built a family with you, didn’t I?”

Gus nodded and felt tears sting her eyes. “That’s the biggest thing I’m sorry about. I’m sorry I accused you of cheating, as if you would ruin this family. I know this the best thing to happen to both of us and I let my crazy take hold.”

“Gus, baby, you’re allowed a crazy moment or two. I’ve had them and you’re there to hold me together. I want to hold you together now,” Jayce said and she moved closer, grabbing Gus into a hug.

Gus returned the embrace, wrapping her arms around Jayce’s waist. Leaning into Jayce, she rested her head against Jayce’s shoulder. She was not used to being in this position when it came to hugs, but it felt nice and she felt secure. Jayce rubbed her back.

“Jay bird, I really want to get over Amanda and get everything she put me through out of my system,” Gus said.

“I think time will make her go away. We’ve hit a mark that’s made you nervous and reminded you of her, but after this, you don’t have any history. It’ll just be us and our relationship.”

“Yeah, but what if other things come up? Stuff we didn’t see coming?”

“Relationships are like that. We just have to work through it. But, if you want, we can invite Amanda over and you can rub it in her face that you got everything you wanted with someone else,” Jayce suggested.

Gus smiled. “You’d suffer her for the evening just for me?” She wondered how Amanda would react to seeing their family, seeing their dynamic, seeing them as a team.

“If it helps you, of course. We’re a team, baby.”

“Do you think it’ll make her go away? She’s come up to my office twice and called who knows how many times. I can’t believe she came to the house.” Sighing, Gus shook her head. She could only imagine how stressful that had to be for Jayce.

“Checking out the competition.” Jayce frowned a bit, like the words left a bad taste in her mouth.

Gus scoffed. “That implies there’s a contest, which there isn’t. I might be temporary insane, but I’m not _that_ crazy.”

“She doesn’t know that.” There was silence for a while. “Are we okay?” Jayce asked in a quiet tone.

“You know I’m sorry?” Gus’ voice was small, fearing Jayce did not believe her.

“Yes.”

“Do you forgive me?”

“I do. Do you forgive me?” Jayce asked.

“I do.” There was silence again. “Any chance you telling me what those phone calls were about, though?” She smiled, showing it was more of a joke than anything else.

Jayce chuckled. “In due time, my love. But, definitely not now.”

Gus sighed. She would trust Jayce because she did trust Jayce. She had to let things with Amanda go. Jayce was not Amanda, nowhere near Amanda. They had plenty of time together ahead of them.

“So, are you serious about inviting her to dinner?” Gus asked.

“Oh, very serious. She knows you wanted a family and she walked away from that. Let her see how happy you are and how she doesn’t have a chance,” Jayce proposed. “Besides, I want to rub it in her face that I got you now.”

Gus laughed. “You can have a real mean streak in you when you put your mind to it.”

Jayce smiled. “She’s the one that’s trying to break up our happy home. I want her to see she can’t do it. Besides, we’re a team.”

Gus smiled, too. They were a team and they functioned best as a team. They were in this thing together. Always, forever.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: the end.


	10. What’s gonna work

10: What’s gonna work

Gus decided to go through with Jayce’s idea and invite Amanda to dinner. So, the next time Amanda showed up unannounced, Gus sprung the idea on her before she even managed to make it into Gus’ private office. Amanda looked like she swallowed a bug and it took all of Gus’ willpower to not laugh. She wish she knew this was the way to shut Amanda up the whole time.

“Wait, you want me to come to your house for dinner? You don’t want to take me out?” Amanda asked. They stood in the doorway of Gus’ office.

“No, I want you to come meet my family. You’ll love the kids,” Gus declared with a grin. She was certain Amanda turned a little green. She wondered if Amanda even thought about that. Like if she succeeded and took Gus away, did she think the children would just disappear? Maybe she thought Jayce would take the kids and Gus would never think about them again, which would show just how little Amanda knew about her.

“Kids? But… what about your wife?” Amanda’s voice trembled just a little, like she tasted fear suddenly.

“She thought of this. She feels like it would be great to get to know you,” Gus said with a bright smile, feeling almost giddy over the look of terror in Amanda’s eyes. “You’d have a good to time getting to know her and, like I said, you’ll love the kids. Octie doesn’t stop going.”

“Octie?” Amanda knew about the kids, but not their names. Gus wondered what her ex would think of her having two children named after her. She imagined Amanda would look even greener.

“My daughter. She’s cute as a button. Octavia, but we all call her Octie. She’s my little princess. If you keep coming around, you’re bound to meet her. I usually bring her into the office every couple of months.” Gus squared her shoulders a bit, feeling pride just talking about her family.

Panting just a little, Amanda’s eyes searched the floor, as if she needed to make sense of all of this information. “You have a daughter? Octavia?” Gus wondered if Amanda realized the meaning of the name. Probably not because Amanda looked like she had lost all of her wits.

“Yes. A daughter and son. Gus-Gus, that’s my son. He’s a little nut. Jayce swear he takes after me. I keep telling her that the name Augustus was a bad idea. He’s rebelling against it already,” Gus stated with a chuckle. If she knew telling Amanda about her family, her favorite subject, would make the woman look like she was going to vomit, she would have done it at length the first time Amanda dared to come into her office.

Amanda took a deep breath, but still looked unfocused and unsteady. “Takes after you? Your son?”

Gus wondered why Amanda acted like this was news. She went to the house when Jayce was there, so Gus-Gus was there, too. Maybe it surprised Amanda to know she considered Gus-Gus her son in the same why Quentin could not seem to understand it. Of course, Amanda probably still abhorred the idea of children, so the idea that Gus loved her to the point where the affection came through each pore probably helped keep Amanda off kilter.

“Yes. He’s adorable.” Gus puffed out her chest.

“He’s also a nudist,” Paki called from the other end of the office space.

“There are worse things to be,” Gus huffed and glared at him for a second before turning her attention back to Amanda.

“You’re really attached to them?” Amanda asked with a wrinkled brow, like she could not understand this.

This made Gus’ brow furrow for a moment. “Of course. They’re my kids. I love ‘em. If you come over, after dinner, you can make stove s’mores with us. They love it.” Gus would do that with the kids whether Amanda came over or not, and from the look on Amanda’s face, she was certain it would be “not.”

Amanda managed to look at her again, narrowing her gaze briefly. “Are you sure your wife thought of this?”

Gus nodded. “Yes. Like I said, she thought it would be a good idea to get to know you and you could get to know her.”

Amanda’s face scrunched up. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“No, what really doesn’t make any sense is you turning up at my house. You went there on your own when no one asked, now I’m asking and you’re acting like I’m crazy,” Gus pointed out.

“Gus…”

“What? Don’t you want to sit down and meet my family? I know you met Jayce already, but you could meet the kids.” Gus grinned, glancing over at her employees. They were all pretending to work at their desks, but she could see amused smiles on all of their faces.

“Yeah, meet the kids. They’ll be yours once you steal Gus back,” Layla chimed in, not bothering to hide an amused grin.

“Oh, yeah! They’re a hoot, too. I’m sure they’ll be happy to have a third mommy to go to amusement parks with,” Dave added.

Amanda’s brow wrinkled. “Third?” She shook her head, as if needing to get that idea out of her head.

“Yeah, Gus definitely comes with the kids. We all know it’s split custody all the way for those two if they ever split up. Surely you thought of that!” Beau commented.

Amanda turned to glare at the group. “You all think you know everything?”

“We all know why the hell you’re sniffing around Gus and we all know what you’re thinking, but let’s be serious, what the hell would you do with two kids?” Dave demanded. “You think Gus is going to spend money on you like she did before? She’s got two kids. Two kids who are legally hers and she loves them dearly, so you can’t just dump them on Jayce and think you’ll go back to your lifestyle before.”

“Yeah, so unless you’re ready for family vacations and Mickey Mouse and a lot of baby nudity, go find your next sap,” Paki said.

“Hey!” Gus felt a little insulted.

“Don’t worry. We still love you, sap,” Paki grinned.

Amanda shook her head. “I’m not…” It was like she did not know what to say. Clearly, she had not thought of all of this when she reappeared.

“You’re not ready to push Gus-Gus in a stroller? Because you need to get ready for that. That boy surprisingly doesn’t like walking long distances. He’ll run his little heart out outside, but he won’t walk,” Layla said.

“You gotta pick Octie up from school, too, because Gus works until five most of the time. You have to hear about her whole day and take her to the park, where she will get cuts, bruises, and tear clothes at least once a week,” Beau added.

Gus chuckled as Amanda wobbled on her “fuck me” heels. She wondered what Amanda thought would happen. Like they would get back together and everything would go back to the way they were before? Gus would have to be really stupid to allow something like that to happen to her.

“Octie’s the one you gotta watch, too. Run? That kid flies, or at least thinks she can. Loves to do anything her papa does, too,” Will said, giving Gus a wink.

“Papa?” Amanda echoed.

“Yeah, I’m a papa,” Gus said with a grin. She tapped her heart with her fist twice. “That’s what she calls me. So, anyway, when can we expect you? Jayce promises to make something special.”

“I’m not sure if I can. I’ll try to call you before you leave work and let you know,” Amanda said before rushing out of the office. They all laughed as she retreated.

“I should’ve guessed the best way to get rid of her is to show her I’ve got some interest in her,” Gus remarked.

“Could you imagine her with your kids? They’d eat her alive,” Layla chuckled.

“Octie would run her into the ground before Gus-Gus had her tearing out her hair,” Dave concurred.

“Hey, hey, hey. Leave my kids alone.” Gus smiled.

“What? We love the little guys!” Paki insisted. “Which is why we helped. We wouldn’t wish Amanda on those little darlings.”

“Yeah. God, could you imagine her at Disney World with them? They don’t need that sort of trauma,” Beau insisted.

“She would have to know where Disney World was first to ruin it for them. Did Jayce really invite her to dinner or did you just make that up?” Will inquired with an arched eyebrow.

“Nope, Jayce really did and I’m wondering if she knew this would be the reaction,” Gus pondered aloud. She was willing to bet Jayce knew exactly what would happen. She could not see Jayce truly wanting to sit across the table with Amanda and have their kids there having to deal with Amanda.

“I’m sure she did. There’s no way in Hell she’d make you suffer through a meal with Amanda… unless she planned to poison it,” Paki remarked.

“Smart woman you married, Gus,” Layla smiled. “Smart woman indeed.” Gus did not argue that.

-8-8-8-8-

Despite the fact that Jayce had forgiven Gus, she was not quite as enthused to see her come through the door as she usually was. She was certain the rawness would fade eventually, but she hoped it was soon. Their anniversary was in a week, after all. She did not want to be in a mood when that time rolled around. Still, she would have to talk to Gus about that because Gus needed to take off work. Before that, though, she had to wait to see if they would have an unwelcome dinner guest.

“Papa’s home!” Octie cheered as they heard the car pull into the driveway.

Jayce took a deep breath to steel herself as Gus came through the door. The children charged as expected. They kept Gus occupied, so Jayce could collect herself before having to interact with Gus. She managed to make it through the night without giving herself away. She decided to talk with Gus while they cleaned up from dinner.

“So… those phone calls,” Jayce said, figuring this would be the best thing to lead with as she washed the dishes.

“You don’t have to tell me,” Gus replied, scrubbing down the kitchen counter. It was amazing what Octie would spill on a surface that she could barely reach.

“Actually, I do, because I need you to use the rest of this week to clear you schedule for next week.”

Gus’ brow furrowed. “Why?”

“Because… well, I arranged a cruise for us. The phone calls were part of that.”

“A cruise?” Gus echoed as if she did not know what it was.

“Yeah, baby, a cruise.”

“You want us to go on a cruise? But… what about the kids?”

Jayce smiled a bit. “Jannie’s going to take them. She thought it was a great idea for us to get away. I talked to as many friends of ours as I could to help her out, but Jannie promises to follow all of the instructions I’ve given her and I promised to call at least twice a day.”

Hazel eyes blinked as Gus processed this information. “Wait… you were planning our anniversary trip on those phone calls?”

“Yes.”

Gus groaned and lightly banged her head against the counter. “I’m such a goddamn idiot.”

“I will not argue that one right now.” Jayce felt it was an accurate description of her wife.

“I deserve that.” Sighing, Gus stood up and faced Jayce. “I’m sorry.”

“I know I said I forgave you and I do, but I’m still so mad at you, Gus,” Jayce whispered.

“You have a right to be mad. I was an idiot. I am an idiot. I never realized I was this stupid, but damn, I’m stupid,” Gus said, putting her hands on Jayce’s waist.

“Yes, you are.”

Gus kissed her softly on her temple. “I am. I know I have to make it up to you. I’m going to do everything in my power and I’m going to get over this. I’m with you.”

“And I’m with you.”

“I’ll do my best to show you,” Gus said.

Jayce did not argue. She would wait to see what Gus did. Until then, she still needed to get things ready for their trip. She also needed to make sure everything was set up for the trip.

-8-8-8-8-

Gus spent a lot of money in the week before the cruise. Thankfully, Jayce packed for her as she would have forgotten to do that. She could not believe Jannie was actually taking the kids for the week, but that explained why Jayce did not want to give them to Jannie earlier. She did not want to push her luck.

“Oh, my god.” Gus muttered as they entered their cabin. She had not expected something the size of a hotel suite. There was a king-sized bed with a sofa and a television. There was an en suite bathroom and a balcony. The lighting itself made the room seem like heaven. Maybe she had died.

“I’m glad you like it,” Jayce said with an impish smile.

“I feel like I’m going to spend this whole week feeling like a jackass,” Gus replied.

“Well, you can be a jackass poolside with me this afternoon, please,” Jayce requested.

Gus sighed, but tried not to wallow. Their fourth wedding anniversary and Jayce had taken time out to arrange this amazing cruise. She now had to spend the week of what should have been a good time of relaxing and spending time with Jayce to groveling to Jayce in order to make up for her idiocy. She also had to try to keep Jayce out of the mood she knew her wife had been fighting all week, trying to be normal. She had plans, though. Hopefully, they would work.

So, for the day, Gus put up with feeling like a jackass while doing activities with Jayce. At dinner, she found out one of the things Jayce had arranged for and probably had been one of her lengthy phone calls. Gus’ dessert was preordered and it was her favorite – black forest cake. This was not on the menu. The cake was shaped like a heart with all of the trimming and delicious cherries on top. In the middle, the words “I love you” were written out in chocolate syrup on white frosting.

“Thank you for this,” Gus whispered.

“Don’t thank me yet. The chef might have completely bungled it,” Jayce tried to joke, but there was a sorrow in her eyes.

“Baby, I’m sorry. Before I eat this, would it be all right for me to give your anniversary gift?”

Dark eyes blinked. “Gift? Our anniversary isn’t for another three days.”

“I know, but I have a gift for you now.”

“Well, if you have it now…” Jayce sighed.

Gus smiled a bit, hoping this lifted Jayce’s spirits some. She wanted Jayce to have a brilliant time and enjoy all of her hard work. “Don’t worry. There’ll be a gift on our actual anniversary as well. There’ll also be some in between. Okay?” 

Jayce nodded. “You didn’t have to.”

Gus chuckled a bit; yes, she did. She needed to do this and more. Moving, she grabbed Jayce’s purse, which caused Jayce to arch an eyebrow. Gus smiled.

“Sorry, but I hid it in here. I needed the space.” Gus knew Jayce would not go in her purse during dinner. She pulled out a gift-wrapped box the size of a small book. “Here you go.” She slid the box over to Jayce.

Jayce looked at her before turning her attention to the gift. She carefully tore open the wrapping, which Gus was used to from her. Jayce managed to get the paper off in one piece to reveal a box. Slowly she opened the lid and she gasped. Gus smiled as she watched Jayce’s eyes light up.

“You made… a personalized book of our life together…” Jayce’s voice hitched as she flipped through it.

“I tried to hit all of the important moments, but the book would’ve been too long. Please, read the text with it, too.” Gus made sure each page of the rather long picture book had at least a paragraph on it, explaining her memories and emotions of the moment. She wanted Jayce to know what was in her heart all the time. Their family was in her heart, Jayce was in her heart, and she would hold them there forever and always.

“God, Gus. This is incredibly beautiful.”

Gus reached across the table and took one of Jayce’s hands. She squeezed and Jayce smiled, glancing down to flip through more of the book. The smile was still there when Jayce looked back up. The underlying sorrow that had been in Jayce’s eyes all day seemed to vanish for now.

“You didn’t have to…” Jayce breathed.

“I did have to. I needed to for both of us. This is a reminder, we’re a team. We’re in this together. It’s _our_ story. People might drift in and out of it, but ultimately, it’s us. We’re here and I love you so much, Jay bird. I want you to see that, even when I’m not around or even when I say something stupid.”

Jayce smiled at her, really smiled. “This is wonderful. I love it. I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Gus leaned across the table and gave Jayce a soft kiss, which was returned.

Jayce read through the book while Gus ate her cake. She fed a few bites to Jayce, but Jayce was more interested in the book than in the cake. Gus was so pleased.

Each night, they had this little exchange. Jayce had set up more surprises for Gus throughout the cruise, but every night having one of her favorite desserts was the best. She had a gift for Jayce at the end of each night as well. The gifts were all around their family, like a crystal with the image of them and the kids in it as well as the words “Together forever.” She also got Jayce a charm bracelet, full of charms that she felt showed her love for Jayce and the best parts of her life with Jayce. On the night of their anniversary, she got down on one knee and presented Jayce a ring.

“Uh… Gus, you do realize, we’re already married, right?” Jayce asked with a small smile. There was also a beautiful blush staining her cheeks.

“I am well aware. This is my new promise to you… which is actually my old promise to you, but in this sense it’s a promise of calmer waters ahead,” Gus replied.

Jayce shook her head. “Baby, you can’t make that promise.”

“But, I can promise to not make more waves when the waters get rough. Amanda’s going to be out there. Your mother’s going to be out there. Your brother’s going to be out there. But, when they show up again, I’ll be there with you.”

Jayce leaned down and kissed Gus’ forehead. “You silly goose. You’re already here with me. I appreciate all of this, Gus, I really do. But, you don’t have to do all of this. I definitely don’t need another proposal or wedding, if that’s your plan for tomorrow, to get past this. You’ve done enough.”

“It doesn’t feel like it. This whole trip, everything we do, I can still see the stems of sadness in you. That’s my fault. I shouldn’t have hurt you,” Gus said, standing up and moving back to her seat.

“I’ll get over it. I’m having a good time. We’ve done so much and I’ve loved every second of it. The quiet moments you see, they’re not even a fraction of the story, love. I promise,” Jayce tried to assure her. She reached across the table to caress the top of Gus’ hand.

“Do you want to talk about the quiet moments?” Gus asked. She resisted the urge to gulp, believing things would be better if they could talk about them.

“Just me wondering why you’d think I was cheating. I know Amanda… well, she worked you. I just get sad thinking you’ve put me on the same level as her.”

Gus frowned and grabbed Jayce’s hand, holding it for dear life. “But, I don’t! Yes, Amanda did a number on me, but I’m working on it. We’re working it and I know you’re not her. I’d never have what I have with you with her. You’re so much more than her and you always will be. She would never do something this thoughtful for me, never have all my favorite desserts planned, or have activities I’d love lined up at every port we stop at. Hell, she wouldn’t even know what desserts I like or what activities I’d want to do.”

Jayce smiled. “Because she’s an idiot. Any woman who would throw you away is.”

Gus smirked. “So, you’re not throwing me away?”

“Nope, because I’m not an idiot. Now, slide that ring on my finger, so we can go back to the cabin and mess up the bed again.”

Gus could not turn that down. The absolute best thing about this vacation was all of the “being in bed” they had done so far and still had plenty of time to do. Jayce definitely seemed to enjoy going to bed with her and seemed to be trying to make up for their drought.

They made their way back to the cabin in record time. The first night, Jayce managed to have the place decked out with candles and rose petals and of course Gus had felt like a jackass. Tonight, Gus arranged for champagne to be waiting for them, not that she thought they would drink more than a sip to celebrate their marriage.

Jayce kissed Gus before the door to their cabin even closed. Gus moaned and wrapped her arms around Jayce, loving the feel of her wife. Gus picked Jayce up, lucky for them the bed to be so close. Years ago, carrying Jayce would have been no problem for her, but since the children could walk, she spent less time in the gym and more time with them. She almost dropped Jayce on the bed, but managed to ease her down, breaking their kiss.

“I’ll pour us some champagne,” Gus suggested.

“Not right now, you won’t. You will get on this bed and finish what you started,” Jayce ordered.

Gus chuckled. “You sure you don’t want the champagne?” She took a small step toward the bottle.

Jayce shot up and grabbed Gus by her shirt, pulling her down on top of her. “Champagne later.” She moaned as she attacked Gus with her lips. Gus would never doubt that this woman wanted her again.

-8-8-8-8-

Jayce laid awake, staring at the ceiling while Gus slept beside her. This trip had been magical and there were still a couple of days left. There were moments when she still felt that ping of pain and it was shocking that Gus noticed. She knew with time it would go away, as long as Gus showed she truly trusted Jayce. The little gifts helped, though.

Her favorite was the book. She had flipped through it many times already and was sure by the end of the trip it would look well-worn and loved. She understood Gus and the fact that she had some trauma. Gus had stuck with her through all sorts of her own trauma, so she would be there for Gus. Before, she thought time would heal Gus, but now, she thought she might have to be more proactive. She would have to do more things like this.

It had been a lot of trouble setting up so many things that Gus would like, but it was worth it each time she saw the light in Gus’ hazel eyes spark and a smile brighter than the sun on her face. Each smile made her want to do more and more for Gus.

“I owe you so much,” Jayce whispered and she kissed Gus’ brow. “I can’t believe she thought I didn’t want her anymore or that I wasn’t attracted to her anymore. I don’t even want her to think that again,” Jayce sighed.

She ran her fingers down Gus’ bare arm. Once upon a time, Gus’ arms were rock hard, solid muscles from the gym. They were still toned, but not what they once were. She loved these arms all the same, though. They held her tight, hugged their children, and protected their family from all horrors of the world.

“You are so beautiful, my love,” Jayce muttered.

Gus purred and cuddled closer. “Love you.”

Jayce smiled. “I love you, too.”

-8-8-8-8-

“Mommy!” Octie cheered as Jayce and Gus marched through the front door of the house. The little girl wrapped her arms around Jayce’s legs, pulling light peals of laughter from Jayce’s throat.

“I missed you, my little princess.” Jayce leaned down and kissing Octie’s cheek. Gus-Gus was not far behind and she snatched him into a tight hug. “I missed you too, my little emperor. I missed you so much.”

Octie moved onto Gus. “Papa!” Octie threw herself onto Gus and sniffled. Gus picked her up and held her tight.

It had been a tough week for Octie from all of the reports from Jannie. She refused to go to the park with her aunt, preferring to come straight home. Jannie had found other places to take the kids during that week. Jayce thought that was nice. It was great that Jannie did not just let her waste away in the house.

“Hey, you two,” Jannie said, stepping out of the living room. She grinned at them, looking quite tired. “You two look great. Nice tans and everything.”

Gus laughed and hugged Octie close. “It was a great time, but I’m happy we’re back.”

“Jannie, you’ll stay, right? I want to do a family dinner,” Jayce declared, sweeping into the kitchen with Gus-Gus still in her arms. She had already warned Jannie of this before they came home, but she wanted to remind her.

Jannie scoffed. “Yeah, because I’m turning down a free, homemade meal with my biscuits.” She pinched Octie’s butt, causing the little girl to jump and giggle.

“Auntie!” Octie complained.

Jayce laughed, feeling good from the simple sound. She managed to glide around the kitchen while holding onto her son. Gus-Gus refused to let her go. This week was the longest they had ever been away from each other. So, she let him “help” in making dinner. The others set the table and soon they were all sitting down to a nice chicken dinner.

“Thanks for doing the shopping earlier, Jannie,” Jayce said.

“No problem. Thanks for actually coming back,” Jannie joked. “I love my biscuits and all, but they are work!”

The parents laughed. “But, we love them anyway,” Gus said, ruffling Octie’s hair.

“No, Papa! My hair just got done,” Octie objected.

Jannie chuckled. “I took her for a full spa day.”

“I liked it,” Octie said.

“We’ll do it again,” Jannie promised.

“We should take Gus-Gus and Travis,” Octie offered.

“I don’t know if they’ll like it, but we can try if I can get a volunteer,” Jannie said, looking at Jayce and Gus.

“You could use a spa day, every now and then,” Gus told Jayce.

Jayce only smiled. She would probably go if Jannie arranged it; she would never set up an appointment on her own. They had a very nice dinner with the kids and Jannie doing the bulk of the talking.

“Jannie, thank you so much for this,” Jayce said, hugging her sister-in-law. Dinner was over and the children were in bed. Jannie was on her way out.

Jannie laughed. “I enjoyed it and I got plenty of help. Trevor’s awesome with them. Helena is ready to pop, so she wasn’t much help.”

“Leave Helena alone. She’s about to have a baby,” Gus said, coming up behind Jayce. She put an arm around Jayce and used the other one to hug Jannie.

Jannie just laughed. “You guys are going to be a hilarious little troop.” Sighing, she sobered. “What are you guys going to do about Octie? She had nightmares even when she slept with me and she didn’t want to go to the park without you.”

“We’re going to talk to her. It’s the best we can do,” Gus replied. They had already worked out what needed to be said. 

“I hope everything turns out well. No offense, Jayce, but I’m pissed your brother did this to my biscuit,” Jannie said.

“That makes three of us,” Jayce replied.

“Have you… done anything about him?” Jannie asked.

“He’s fallen off the face of the Earth again. I like to think he feels guilt over scaring her,” Jayce said. She would actually feel better if she knew where her brother was, what he was doing, just something. Gus had the private investigator on it, but they had not gotten any news yet.

“Well, hopefully the guilt keeps him far away until he gets his shit together,” Gus grunted. Jayce patted her shoulder to keep her calm.

“Well, thank you so much, Jannie. We appreciate it so much,” Jayce said. 

“No problem. I won’t ever do a week again, but I think I can handle them for a couple of days if you guys ever need a weekend,” Jannie said, eyeing her sister more so than Jayce.

“Thanks,” Gus said. “For everything.”

Jannie only smiled and she left. Jayce wondered what the sisters had just shared, but did not ask. It was between them. She was just happy Jannie had matured so much over the years and their relationship was not as strained as it used to be.

“Go shower. I’ll do the dishes,” Gus offered.

“Are you sure?” Jayce asked.

“You haven’t taken a breath since we got here. Go take a shower, relax. I’ll get the dishes done and hopefully get to join you in bed before Octie undoubtedly shows up.”

Jayce sighed and nodded. She gave Gus a kiss because it seemed like such a long time to be away from her – taking a shower. On their cruise, they had been joined at the hip… and other places depending on the place and situation.

In the shower, she took a moment to reflect on the evening. The kids seemed quite happy she and Gus were back. They were both clingy, so it was hard to tell anything was wrong beyond the fact that they had been missed. She thought Octie might sleep better just because she and Gus were home. They would see.

By the time she got out of the shower, Gus was in the bedroom. She thought Gus would go take a shower, but instead, Gus went right for her while she was still in a towel. Gus wrapped her arms around Jayce.

“How do you feel?” Gus asked.

“I’m fine. I’m letting him go. I want to focus on our kids. I have to focus on our kids, our family. Plus, I have to let him go if I want to stay sane because we’ve seen I do insane things when he’s about. So, I refuse to worry about him anymore. I have this whole family to worry about,” Jayce answered.

“Then we’ll take care of it. As a team.”

Jayce grinned at this. Gus had been making it a point to use the term more often, a reminder for both of them. Gus let her go and went to take her own shower. They curled up together in bed when Gus was done. They barely had turned the light out before the door opened and Octie came in, as if she had been waiting for that signal. She crawled in between them.

“What happened, princess?” Gus asked.

“I had a nightmare, Papa,” Octie answered, cuddling against Jayce.

“Tell us about it, baby,” Jayce requested in a soft tone, kissing the top of the child’s head.

Octie’s nightmare was vague, full of monsters they were sure represented Quentin. They moved closer, making sure to sandwich her and comfort her with their presence. It seemed to work because she was completely calm at the end.

“So, munchkin, why do you think you keep having nightmares?” Gus asked.

“I dunno.” Octie shrugged.

“Auntie Jannie told us you didn’t want to go to the park, even though you and Gus-Gus wanted to stay at home instead of going to her house,” Jayce said.

“No, I didn’t.”

“You didn’t want to go because we weren’t there?” Gus asked, petting the child’s head.

“No. I want you there.”

“Why?” Jayce chimed in.

“Because… you make it safe. You make me safe,” Octie pointed out.

“Yes, we’re supposed to make you safe, but Auntie Jannie has to make you safe, too,” Gus said.

“I know…” Octie’s voice was small. “But, I thought she might be scared, too.”

“Octie, is this about my brother?” Jayce asked.

“What if he’s there?” Octie countered.

“If he’s there, you just ignore him. You don’t have to say anything to him, do anything with him, or go anywhere with him. You don’t have to be scared, baby. He doesn’t have any control over you. If you do see him, you get an adult. Me or Mommy or Ms. Pipin or Auntie Jannie. Anybody that you know. He can’t hurt you,” Gus promised.

“I know…” Octie sighed. “I know. But, he still scares me.”

“But, you can’t run from him, princess. _We_ can’t run from him. You have to go back to the park. If you get scared, you come to us, but you can’t run away,” Jayce insisted. These words were as much for her as for their daughter. While her brother did not necessarily scare her, the idea that he might do something for their mother was there.

“I know. I just… I feel better when you’re here, you and Papa. I’ll go back to the park now. I just want you there,” Octie explained.

“We’re always here, kiddo, even when we’re away. We’re always here because we’re always there for you,” Gus said.

Octie nodded and it seemed like they had gotten through to her. Of course, only time would tell, but that was for all of them. Time would heal them, Jayce was sure of that. Time had been healing them, after all. It just went faster at certain points than others. They also had to be there for each other for time to do what it did.

Octie fell asleep shortly after. Jayce and Gus held hands over their daughter. Gus squeezed her hand.

“We’re okay,” Gus promised.

“I know. We’re all okay. We have a great family, Gus. I love every single day with us,” Jayce said.

“Me, too. We’re a team of four. Sometimes five,” Gus said.

Jayce chuckled. “Actually, sometimes seven and soon it’ll be eight.”

“Either way, we’re a good team and a good family. We’re okay.”

“Yeah.”

There were still things out there, bad things, that would love to pull them apart, but they would never let those forces win. So, Amanda could plot more, but she would not prevail. Quentin could pop up again, but they would just shield Octie from him. Hell, Marion might show up again, but they would stand against as always. They would stand together and then there would be good things. The good things would always beat out the bad. They had a great family and they would keep that together.

The End.

-8-8-8-8-

Thanks for all of the support, guys. I’m going back to my padded room and hopefully you’ll return when I escape again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you wanna see more of my fanfics, they're all at FFN under [StarvingLunatic](https://www.fanfiction.net/~starvinglunatic). If you wanna see some original stories, you can look at FP under [StarvingLunatic](https://www.fictionpress.com/u/576301/).


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